I will Survive - Fetus fanfiction
by LaurenRoover
Summary: This is something I wrote about 2-3 years ago, and I'd love to share it. It's an OC story, maybe the characters will meet up with the TWD-characters, maybe not.
1. Chapter 1: Question

**Hey people**

 **This is something I wrote two years ago, and I'd totally forgotten about it. It's an OC-story in the TWD-universe. I think I was planning on making my characters meet the ones from TWD sometime, but I never got to that point. Maybe, when I start writing again, I might.**

 **For now, enjoy this story of fetus-me. Sorry in advance for any grammar errors or just stupid sentences that don't make any sense.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own TWD)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 1: Question_

Question; what would you do when there's a knock on your door, and when you open it, you get a huge, big-ass gun pointed in your face? And what would you do, if a soldier grabs you by your arm and pushes you in front of him, forcing you to walk down the stairs? You hear screams and loud BOOMS coming from outside, like the people of Runem started their own war, and you see lightings and explosions. You have no idea what the fuck is going on. Tell me, what would you do? I'll let you think about it.

In the main time, I'll tell you what I did. I walked forward as the soldier forced me to do. I lived on the 5th floor, so I had to walk a lot of stairs. My poor legs. I wasn't the athletic type of guy. I was a candy-lover and a regular at the local fast food- restaurant. My hair was brown and my eyes had a strange, gold/brown colour. I was wearing a blue shirt and baggy jeans. I wasn't fat, not at all.(I just liked candy, OK? I'm that person that can eat everything without getting fat. Yes, you may hate me for that.)

I asked the soldier what was going on, but he only told me there was a national evacuation going on, that there's no time to pack my bags and I should stay calm. I asked again what was happening, but still; "I advise you to stay calm sir."

 _Wow, that's very helpful sir, but that's not what I asked._

I walked down the stairs till I got to the main entrance. There were a lot of other people from this flat standing there, all panicking about what is happening and what not. I just lived there, so most of the people were strangers to me. Lucky for me, Michelle from the 4th floor, a pretty blonde girl I met in the elevator, and Nora from the 2nd floor, an old lady that baked me a pie when I first got here. They were standing close to the stairs, and Michelle seemed relieved to see me.

"Aiden! Thank god you're OK!" she said, smiling at me. (NO, there's not going to be a romance between us, she has a boyfriend, you idiot.) "What's going on?"

"Some kind of national evacuation." I turned to Nora. "How are you doin, miss Glass?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I only wish you would call me Nora, instead of miss Glass" she said with a smile. "I hate my last name."

I laughed at her, but my smile faded away when I saw soldiers standing at all the entrances, even the emergency exit on the left. They stood there with those big-ass guns and poker faces.

 _Yeah, that's how you calm down the people. Great job, guys._

"Why are they guarding the exits?"

"I don't know dear, there like statues. Not moving, no talking, nothing."

I sighted. On my only free night, something like this happened. I swept the sweat of my forehead. It was in the middle of the summer, and we had the hottest one in the history of Runem. I had seen some shit on the news, about a national disaster in the U.S. An infection or something. We probably got it too. Well, that means we're fucked. Or maybe not. The military seemed to be prepared, if you look at the soldiers. Well-equipped and they seem to know what to do.

We heard a shot, coming from upstairs. I lived long enough in this neighbourhood to know what a gunshot sounds like. The people got silent for about ten seconds, and then they started shouting and pushing.

"Let us out! Let us out!" The soldiers didn't move a muscle.

Michelle's eyes widened and she started to breathe real fast.

"Michelle, are you OK?" I questioned. She shook her head.

"Can't… breathe…"

Nora pushed me aside. She held Michelle's head in her hands and looked her in the eyes.

"In through the nose, out through your mouth. Like that, yes."

Yeah, I'm not good with that. That's a girl-thing. I stand there a bit awkwardly, patting Michelle on her shoulder. _Good job, dude. Superman would be proud._

"What's going on in your head, dear?" Nora asked Michelle. It seems only women can see when something's wrong with other women.

"It's Tyler. He's still at work. In the Centre." Michelle's voice sounded really scared. The Centre was in the middle of Runem, it's like New York. Almost everyone who lived in the area worked there. Most of the people who lived here too. They lived in shitty, cheap apartments, which were built especially for the employees of big businesses, so the Centre wouldn't be overwhelmed with homeless.

Tyler was Michelle's boyfriend, they lived together.

"He's OK, trust me" Nora said. "If the army-boys are already here with the evacuation, they have already done the Centre. You'll see him again, at the shelter."

Michelle seemed to calm down by the words of the old lady. I wish the other people in the hall would too. They were still shouting, and now they were throwing things at the soldiers. Little things, like pencils, keys, books, things they carried on them. Suddenly, a big man stepped forward. He walked towards the soldier and held up his fist.

"I ain't playing games, son" he said. The soldier held up his gun, like that was going to protect him from this giant.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot from upstairs. The hall got silent, there was no sound for about 10 seconds. Then, the panicking started. The people pushed each other to the doors, sandwiching the soldiers against the walls. I stand before Michelle and Nora, walking back, towards the stairs. It was a huge chaos in the hall. Everyone wanted to get out of this mess, which I found quite stupid, because the situation wasn't any better outside. There were still screams, BOOMS, fires and smoke. We were right in the middle of the shit.

Suddenly, I heard a scream behind me. It was Nora, who got grabbed by her shoulders by a man. The man looked pale, his eyes had no pupils, and his cheek looked chewed off, like his dog was really hungry. He made a weird sound, like a dying animal, before he planted his teeth in Nora's shoulder. Nora screamed of pain and tried to get the man of her.

"Help, help me!" she screamed. I wanted to do something, but my legs were stuck in the ground. I couldn't move, I was frozen. In shock. The man was eating her, like dinner. Like a real predator. Blood was all over the place. I could only look at his hungry eyes and teeth in flesh.

When I finally found the courage to move, someone pushed me a side. A soldier. He held up his gun and shot. It was so quick, I couldn't even understand what was happened. Nora's body fell on the ground, and the man next to her. Nora's left cheek was almost gone, completely blown off. Her eye was just a black hole, her lip was burned away and I could see her teeth. The man next to her was shot in the right side of his face. This was also exploded. I was stunned to see him getting up again. He stood up, like nothing happened. He reached out his arms, trying to get the soldier in his ugly fingers. The soldier held up his gun again, and without hesitation, he shot the man through the head.

"Let's go" he said to his men. "It's time." He colleagues who were still guarding the doors, nodded and opened it. The people ran out, like they were kept prisoner for a hundred years.

I was still shocked. Nora was dead. Nora was dead. Michelle grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the corpses. The picture of Nora's exploded face would always be in my mind.

Outside, the chaos was still on. For the first time in my life I saw a tank, which was riding towards the highway. On the highway I saw people running away from their cars and other people who were walking slowly, like they had all the time of the world.

A soldier pushed us out the door, forcing us to run and get back to the group. They were leading us to the local supermarket. Everywhere around us, I saw normal people being eaten by the strange looking people, like the one that "ate" Nora. When we walked by, a couple of them looked up to us, and wanted to get closer, but its body fell down the ground when a bullet went through its head.

The supermarket was filled with scared people. They were sitting everywhere in the store.

Michelle still hold my hand, but didn't say anything. She stared into nothing. I led her to the fruit department, there was a nice smell there that calmed me down. We sat down against some boxes.

I held my head in my hands. Nora is dead. Nora is dead. Holy shit. Nora is dead. Nora is dead. This isn't real, is it? Is this a joke? Is someone messing with me? Is this a dream? Am I really here?

"Wake up, you idiot. Wake up!" I whispered to myself. A few soldiers walked by. I looked up and saw them disappearing through the back door of the store.

"Uhm, hi" said a manly voice. I turned my head and saw Caesar, a man who lived at the 2nd floor of the flat.

"You're Aiden, right?"

"Yes, and you're Caesar" I said. Another couple of soldiers walked by. They too disappeared through the mystery door.

"May I?" He asked me if he could sit down.

"Yeah, sure go ahead."

He smiled grateful, like I had given him a gift or something.

"I…I'm sorry for what happened to Nora. She…was a nice lady" he said. I bowed my head.

"Yes, she sure was."

A few army men walked by, looking worried. I watched them go through the back door.

"It's weird, huh?" Ceasar said. "Those crazy army people, just taking us away from our homes. Crazy, I tell you."

I watched the door the soldiers had gone through, they could be back any minute. More soldiers ran by and go through the door.

"Where do you think they're going?" I asked Ceasar.

"The back of the store of course" he answered, like I was some kind of idiot.

"I know that's the back of the store, but why aren't they coming back?"

Ceasar laughed. "There probably just debating about what to do next."

Another group of soldiers came by.

"Excuse me, sir" Ceasar asked nicely. They looked at him and walked through, ignoring him.

"Well, there not very polite, are they?"Ceasar said, a bit offended. Another group walked by, and another one. I stood up and watched them disappear through the door. Where were they going? Instead of walking to the backdoor, I walked towards the front door. I heard Ceasar stood up as well and followed me. I stopped at one of the pay desks. I looked at the glass doors and saw hundreds, maybe thousands of bite-things, slamming at the glass and screaming like hungry cats. I stepped back. Suddenly a few cracks appeared in the glass. They slammed and more cracks appeared. More people started to notice and started running to the back of the store. Everywhere I looked, on every meter of the glass, there were those things. Monsters slamming on the glass. Creepy as fuck.

"We gotta get out of here" I said to Ceasar. "Now!" I started running, back to the fruit department, back to Michelle. She was standing up as she saw me running towards her. Her eyes looked brighter than before, like she could think again. I grabbed her arm.

"We have to go." She understood and walked with me. At that moment I heard the glass break. I didn't turn around to see it, but I could imagine what it looked like; millions of tiny glitters flying through the air, the monsters pushing and pulling, trying to get into the store. Their jaws clapping and arms cracking. People started screaming again and ran through the backdoors. Many didn't realize what was going on and sat where they sat. It was too late to save them

I ran to the doors at the back of the store. We came to a loading area of the shop. There, I saw an army truck that drove off, leaving all these innocent people behind. I stood still, listening to the footsteps of the monsters, attacking the people that couldn't make it towards the doors. Hearing them raised my heartbeat. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to think.

"Aiden! Aiden!" Ceasar screamed. He smiled as he held up his arm. In his hands, he held a carkey.


	2. Chapter 2: The Run

**Howdy!**

 **It's been a while, and to be honest, I'd kina forgotten about this story. But I'm planning on uploading regularly, even for those twelve views...**

 **(Disclaimer: The Walking Dead ain't mine)**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 _Chapter 2: The Run_

I made a sigh with my hand, and Ceasar said "OK" with only moving his lips. It wasn't a good idea to let all these people know we had a car. I kinda felt bad for them. OK, I felt really bad for them, but we couldn't take them all with us. I didn't even know if we could get outside without getting grabbed by those things. Ceasar walked up to me showing me the keys. The brand of the car was a Ford, and even though I'm a guy, I still don't know a thing about cars. But we had one. That was what mattered.

"Ceasar, how did you….?"

"I parked my car here, because the parking-lot at the flat was full" he said. "I was just on my way to get it back there, but then the army showed up and well, you know the rest…"

"Ceasar, you're awesome, man!" I put my hand around his neck and laughed. I saw Michelle looking at me, she hadn't said anything since we left the shop. Now she was smiling too, a good sign, meaning she was brightening up again. My laughter faded away and I got serious again.

"OK, we need to get out of here and reach the car, where did you park it?" I asked Ceasar.

"Not far from the shop, but we have to walk back to the main entrance."

"Haven't you paying attention?" I said. "There monsters all over the place. And that door won't hold for long."

We had put a couple of boxes in front of it when we got here, and I didn't know if they had noticed us yet. Now there was only the sound of the monsters who were feeding themselves with human flesh. I shook my head, hoping the picture of Nora's corpse would fade away.

"The back door is still open, but I don't know if there are monsters." Ceasar put a hand over his eyes. "We gotta run. If it's just the three of us, they never see us sneaking behind their backs."

"Just the three of us?" Michelle suddenly asked. "And what about the others here? We just gonna leave them? With those things in the shop? Bursting through the door any minute?!" She pointed her red-nailed finger at the "blockade" in front of the door. "I don't know what you think, but I can't live with that!"

She looked at me, her eyes begging me to say she's right. But I don't think she is. We can't take all these people with us. There too many creatures outside. It's just not possible. I wanted to say she was wrong, but I couldn't do it. I was too scared, and I know, I'm an idiot, but now she was finally talking again and I didn't want to feel bad. So I said nothing, but luckily I got "saved" by a manly voice asking; "Are you planning to escape?"

I turned around and looked at a blue-green eyed man with dark blond hair. He was wearing green trousers and black boots, and huge vest. I realized this guy was one of the soldiers. And not just one of them. He shot Nora.

"You…." I began, my voice trembling with anger. He held up his hand, a sign telling me he didn't want any trouble.

"I know what you think" he said. "But I didn't have a choice. I'm sorry about your granny…."

"She was NOT my grandmother!" My fists were shacking as I put my fingers together.

"Yeah, whatever. Look, I didn't have a choice, OK? She was bit, and when you're bit, you're dead."

I was shocked. Really? That sounded ridiculous.

"But why did you shot her, then? When she was dead already, like you said?"

"I've already said too much," the guy said. "Sorry, can't tell you." The last sentence drove me crazy. The tone was so wrong, something inside me snapped. Suddenly I really wanted to hurt this soldier. I grabbed the guy by his shoulder and slammed him against the wall.

"Tell me what you know!" I whispered, the words spitting in his face.

"Wow wow, calm down, detective" he said with a little sarcastic laughter. "Orders from the big boss. Can't tell you."

I held up my fist and hit him in his stomach. The guy bended over, coughing and breathing for air. I heard Michelle screaming my name. I turned around, which was a stupid thing to do. The guy put his arm around my neck and threw me on the ground. He kicked his boot in my belly.

"Payback, mister Holmes" he said. The people in the room were silent, watching us. Outside we heard footsteps coming closer and moans sounding louder than before. In the shop the creatures had noticed us, and were trying to get the door open.

Ceasar helped me standing up. I wanted to walk over to the soldier, but Ceasar held me back.

"Don't" he said. "Don't give him an opportunity to hit you again." So I stand back. I saw the soldier smiling a creepy smile of accomplishment. I looked away and saw Michelle, who had tears in her eyes. Shit.

"Aiden, we need a plan" Ceasar said. "I got a quick look outside, most of the creatures are at the front. My car is parked 5 spots from it. There are some creatures walking alone, but I think we can handle them."

"We can't just leave" I said. "We have to get the other people out. Maybe they have cars of their own."

"But what if they don't?" Michelle asked, not looking me in the eyes.

"Then they can go to the train station" the soldier said, out of nowhere. "All the evacuated go there and there trains moving them away from the infected zone."

I didn't want to admit it, but it was a good idea. The train station was not far away from the supermarket, maybe 500 metres. That was not impossible.

"That's a good idea" I said. I saw the guy smiling like he was the most clever person in the world.

"But how do we reach it? There too many of them." Ceasar was right. There were thousands of them outside and maybe forty of us.

"We distract them" the soldier said. "Like a bait. If they're all at one place, there's enough room for us to move quickly into an ally. The ally at the left, the closest to the shop, is less grouted. If we can reach it before they see us, we might stand a chance."

"Wait a minute," Ceasar put his arm around his neck. "We can't just let somebody play for cheese. I mean, that's just….not right."

"It could work" I said. "If someone goes outside and stand on a high car, like a Jeep or something, and starts shouting, they come running towards him. Someone else has the room to run to your car, and another can lead these people to the ally. The bait can be picked up by the one with the car and distract the creatures and lead them away from the market, so the people in the ally won't be seen."

"I hate to say it, but it's a good plan" the soldier said. "It can work. If we choose the right people for the jobs."

"But we got to hurry, there almost through the door" Michelle said, a bit scared.

"OK, first; who's the bait?" the soldier asked. No one answered. I guess we were all cowards at that moment.

"Well, I guess I have to be the cheese" he then said. "And I think it's better that you lead the people towards the ally" he continued, pointing at Michelle. "These people are scared and it's better they see a young, strong girl taking care of them." Michelle's cheeks turned red, but nodded. "When I give you a sign, you start running. And you run to the car, right, senor?" Ceasar nodded. "And you, Sherlock, I think you should keep an eye on that door. I don't want you to do that because I don't like you, it's because you're the strongest of the people here." I saw he took this very serious, there was no sign of sarcasm on his face.

"The car will pick you up as first, and then me. Does everybody know their tasks?" We nodded.

"Wait, where do we rendezvous?" Michelle asked.

"Well, I think when we distract the creatures away from the shop and get rid of them, we meet each other at the train station." Maybe the soldier wasn't that bad after all. He's still a dick, but he knows what he's talking about.

"He man, what's your name?" I asked.

"Keith. Sergeant Reese, if you prefer that" he smiled his sarcastic smile I hated so much. "Good luck, Sherlock." He walked towards the back entrance of the loading room. I ran over to the blockade and tried to make it more stable. I saw Michelle talking to the other people, telling them what we were about to do. Ceasar stood next to Keith, ready for the run.

I pushed my back against the blockade. I was ready.

Keith opened the door and ran outside. A voice in me asked; Can we trust him? Won't he just walk off and leave us here? He was a dick, no doubt about that, but I didn't think he could do something that cruel.

A minute after Keith opened the door, Ceasar ran through it, towards his car. After thirty seconds, Keith gave Michelle the sign and she lead the people outside. I could see them running to the left ally.

The creatures in the shop slammed on the door, and I leaned against it. My feet slipped away on the ground, but I didn't give up. I heard Keith shouting, and the footsteps outside turned to him. Michelle and the others had reached the ally and she was leading them towards the station. I couldn't see what Ceasar was doing, but he had to do it fast. The door was bursting. My feet slipped away again, and I tried to stand, but I couldn't hold it for long. The boxes with dog food started to fall down and the door cracked. Ceasar had to be quicker, otherwise I would get bit. And die, if it was true what Keith said. I heard him shouting outside.

"C'mon, you ugly walkers! Over here! Yeah, that's right, some nice flesh for you!"

I found it very weird to hear him use the term "Walkers", like they're some sort of animals. It was clear to me he was familiar with them. Or at least he knew more about them than I did.

I heard the sound of a car driving in my direction. Ceasar, finally. The door cracked again and I could heard "walkers" moaning on the other side. A blue car stopped in front of the door. Ceasar opened the door.

"Quick! Get in!" he shouted. Walkers were noticing the car and came closer. Keith screamed at them, trying to get their attention, but the car was much more interesting than him.(I could relate to that)

I let go of the door and ran towards the open door to the car. The moment I was away from the door, it cracked into pieces. Walkers were coming into the loading room, trying to get to us. I jumped into the backseat of the car.

"Go go go!" I shouted. Ceasar kicked the gas pedal and drove towards Keith, who was standing on a school bus. He waved at us. Ceasar drove in a circle around the bus.

"What are you doing?" I shouted. "We got to get him out of there!"

"There too many of them!" Ceasar cried. "I won't make it into the car!"

He was right. Walkers were coming back to the bus, out of the supermarket and near buildings. We had to figure out a plan, again. I didn't like Keith, but this is something you wouldn't want anyone to happen.

"Get us close to the bus!" I shouted. Ceasar looked me in the eyes. "Are you crazy?! We aren't the cheese, amigo!"

"Just do it!" He was cursing in Spanish while he got us closer to the bus. He was still circling around, and more walkers appeared, out of nowhere. I opened a window at held out my head.

"Keith!" I shouted. He looked at me, looking afraid. "You gotta jump! On the roof of the car."

"What?! No way man!" Keith shouted back.

"Don't be a pussy! Look around you!"

Keith grumbled something I couldn't hear, but bowed his knees, ready to jump.

"You got to drive slower," I said to Ceasar. "Otherwise he won't make it!"

"Yeah, well, this wasn't the plan! I'll drive slower, but he has to jump really fast!" Ceasar slowed down the car.

"Keith!" I shouted out the window. "Jump! Now!"

Keith hesitated. I understood he was peeing his pants, but we didn't have time for that now.

"Do it! Do it now!"

Keith waited, closed his eyes, and walked back. He's not going to do it, said a voice in my head. He's not going to jump.

Suddenly, he flied through the air. Then there was a loud bang when he hit the car. There was a huge dent in the roof. He did it. He jumped.

Ceasar kicked the gas pedal and we speeded up. I opened the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ceasar shouted.

"We have to get him inside, dumbass! He can't hold on for long at this speed!"

I put my seatbelt on, just in case. I tried to stand up and touched the roof, looking for an arm to grab. My heart stopped beating when I didn't feel a body lying on top of the car. I searched again.

And was relieved to feel Keith's hand grabbing mine. I grabbed it with both hands.

"OK, Keith," I said. You gotta jump again."

"No problem." Like a real turner he swept himself inside the car. When he almost laid inside the car, he said: "You can let go of my arm now, Sherlock."

I sniffed and was not amused, but still happy he had made it. I closed the door and sighted.

"Man, I'm not doing that again" I said while I swept my sweaty forehead with the back of my hand.

"Me neither" Keith said, and he smiled. This time it was a smile of accomplishment, which made me smile too.

"That, my friends, was some serious _Fast and the Furious_ shit" Ceasar said. "I mean, I love the movies, but nothing more."

"What's next?" I asked, looking at Keith.

"Well, we follow our plan. We drive till we get rid of those walkers, and then return to the train station, so you can see your girlfriend again."

"She not my girlfriend!"

"Oh, really?" Keith smiled the stupid smile. "That's interesting."


	3. Chapter 3: The Softy

**For this chapter, I had a major problem. I had somehow deleted the original, so I had to rewrite the whole thing. That would explain why the English in this chapter is better than the previous and the following chapters, although I might go grammar Nazi on the next ones. The mistakes with 'there' and 'they're' are just too painful.**

 **So, enjoy!;)**

 **(disclaimer; not my stuff)**

 _Chapter 3: The softy_

We'd been driving for quite a while now. It took longer than expected to lose all those creatures. It seemed they had enormous stamina, and I almost started to believe that they were really undead.

We had no idea where we were, and on top of that, Ceasar announced that the tank was almost empty.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Keith grumbled, waking up from his slumber. He yawned like an animal.

"Sorry, sergeant, if I'd known the world was going to end, I'd filled up."

"Let's just see if we can find a gas station around here" I mumbled. Those two had been going at each other like two grandmothers arguing about who had the brightest grandson. So annoying. It was for the better that I sat in the passenger's seat, and Keith in the back.

Keith yawned again, looking out the car window. "I think I know this area. There should be a high school nearby."

"Aren't you a bit old for high school?" Ceasar smirked. "Otherwise, that would make you a real pervert."

"Shut your trap, Latino. I'm from this area, I used to live here." He grumbled something else I couldn't hear, but it sounded annoyed, as usual.

It was silent for a short amount of time, which was very, very relaxing. I leaned against the cold window, closing my eyes for a little while, even though I should be helping to look for a gas station. It's not like I would miss anything else in the area.

Ever since we left the parking lot of the supermarket, we hadn't come across any living humans. The further we drove away, the smaller the population seemed to get. It was chaos. It was horrible.

I hoped Michelle was alright. I prayed to any god out there that she was. I hoped she made it to the station. I hoped we would make it. At this rate, I knew we wouldn't.

"There!" Keith suddenly shouted. Ceasar spun the wheel rapidly around and made a sharp turn to the right. Indeed, between two buildings, only seen through a small space between them, was a small, local, gas station.

"Good job, Watson" I grinned, and Keith rolled his eyes.

"Heads up, ladies, there could be more of them monsters around" Ceasar said with a serious tone.

"Just stop the car in front of the shop," Keith grumbled, slightly annoyed. "I'll go take a look. Don't wet yourselves."

There was some protest from Ceasar's side, but he did has the sergeant told him. Keith got out even before Ceasar hit the brakes. With his hands in his pockets, he made his way towards the shop. He seemed very un-sergeant-like, as if he'd dropped the military attitude now that he was in other company than his subordinates. I narrowed my eyes, following his every move.

Ceasar bumped his elbow in my arm. "Say Aiden, what are your thoughts about him? Think we can trust him?"

I looked at the man in uniform, who was looking through the window of the kiosk, and shrugged. "He helped us save everyone from the supermarket."

Ceasar nodded slowly. "Maybe. Or it was for his own benefit. He doesn't really fit the military stereotype, if you ask me."

"I thought so too. But right now, I have no idea who to trust who not to, after everything that's happened today. And the day isn't even over yet, which is crazy."

"I know, right?" Ceasar sighed. "We're in hell. When my old man died, I thought it was the end. But it doesn't even come close to the things I've seen today."

I turned my head to look at Ceasar, a little surprised by those serious words. I'd thought of him as a simple soul, yet he seemed to have a rough history underneath the surface of a bright smile.

Keith suddenly appeared from the back of the kiosk, shaking his head. "Nothing nor no one's here. Time to get this thing up and running again."

Ceasar started he engine and with the last drops of gas, he managed to manoeuvre it in front of one of the pumps. He got out to fill the tank, and I felt like stretching my legs as well.

The sun was still up, yet I couldn't really tell the time. It must've been two hours ago when the soldiers knocked on the door of my apartment. So much had happened already. The whole area got evacuated, the only sounds remaining where those of electricity and helicopters circling around the city miles away. We hadn't come across anyone, meaning any other sane person. The military was awfully quick with the evacuation.

I had been staring into nothing for quite a while, when I suddenly heard some rumbling, as if someone threw a trash can on the ground. Keith jumped up, taking a step towards where the sound came from. Ceasar kept filling the tank, but kept looking over his shoulder.

I slowly walked over to Keith, who stood in front of the car. "Stay back."

There was some movement from the shadows, from where Keith had just appeared from minutes ago.

"I thought you said this place was clear?" Ceaser whispered. Keith didn't respond.

There were soft, light footsteps, and the shadow got closer. I saw Keith position himself to jump onto whoever was approaching us, but when it got closer, he relaxed. Or rather; he dropped. He literally fell to his knees, as if he'd seen something incredible.

"Keith? What…" I managed to say. The shadow suddenly dashed forward, jumping on top of Keith. I opened my mouth to shout, but it wasn't what I thought it was. It wasn't a walker, it was a girl. She was clenching to Keith as if she'd otherwise be dragged away from him. Keith's mouth fell slightly open, his eyes widened, as the girl sobbed into his wide chest. She looked rather young , still in her teens. While Keith's hair was blonde, hers was black as night, a braid down her back. She was wearing a blue dress with a dark vest and small sneakers.

I eyed Ceasar, who shrugged. Neither of us had any idea what was going on. The girl kept sobbing, and after a while, Keith took her face in his hands and looked her straight in her teary eyes.

"Are you ok? Where's mom?"

The girl, who seemed to be his little sister, shrugged. "She was at work when I last spoke with her. I went to school, and then….evacuation and….my teacher is dead."

"The high school nearby, huh?" Ceasar mumbled.

"How did you end up here?" Keith asked. The girl smiled through her tears, a sweet, innocent smile.

"I missed the bus."

Keith snorted. "You got that from me. Sorry about that."

He stood up, planting a kiss on his sister's forehead. She smiled again, and pushed herself up.

I think I speak for both Ceasar and myself if I say that we were flabbergasted by Keith's behaviour. Although I didn't know him that well, I had no idea that there was this side to him. Ceasar didn't in a million years.

The girl wiped her tears, flattened the skirt of her dress, and took a step forward. Holding out her hand, she introduced herself to me. "Abigail Reese. Abby, if you may."

"Aiden" I said, and we shook hands. Ceasar still seemed a bit shocked when he introduced himself, looking from Abby at her brother and back.

"We're heading for the train station, in order to meet up with the rest of the evacuees from this area" Keith explained, "there should still be trains going back and forth between the refugee camp and here, so we might catch the last one if we're lucky."

"You think mom's gonna be there?" Abby asked with a small voice. Keith shrugged.

"She might have a chance. As a doctor, she might've been asked to help out at the medical unit in the camp, but I can't be sure."

"I sure hope so" she mumbled. She then looked over her shoulder, to the shop. To my surprise, a playful smile appeared on her face. "Let's get some sweets for the road."

Keith couldn't even protest; she was already gone. Light on her feet, she almost danced towards the kiosk. A minute later, she came back with her hands full of sugary stuff, cookies, and energy drinks.

"She's really something else, ain't she?" Ceasar mumbled.

"You have no idea" Keith responded softly.

That might be the first and he last time those two agreed on something.


	4. Chapter 4: The Train

**Hey it's-a-me again!**

 **After some discussion with myself, I decided to just read each chapter before I upload it, and do a grammar check as best I can. I can't promise that I've seen all of them since there are A LOT, but it's better than the first version.**

 **(Disclaimer; TWD isn't mine. Period)**

 **Enjoy!;)**

 _Chapter 4: The train_

The sky was turning red when we got to the station. The walkers in Outside had wandered of, many of them probably went to other towns nearby. Abby was sleeping, Keith stared aimlessly through the car window, probably thinking about what to do with his little sister. Ceasar was parking the car, and even though there were no other cars here, he still was polite enough to place his right in the parking spot. We'd been silent the whole way, mainly because Abby looked exhausted and needed to rest, but also because we had no idea what we would see once we were to arrive at our destination.

The station seemed empty, there was no sign of life anywhere.

Keith woke up his sister, who yawned just like her brother. "Where are we?"

"Outside's train station" Keith answered. This time his voice sounded more like the man I fought with. I could see on his face he didn't trust this.

"Are we too late?" Ceasar asked. "Are they gone?"

"I don't know" Keith answered. "The evacuation would be at platform 2. Let's go and check there."

We got out of the car. Abby stayed close to her brother, and Keith constantly looked over his shoulder to see if she was still there. I walked in front of them, with Ceasar next to me. We were all silent, hoping to hear a sound that would tell us if we had company, good or bad.

But there was nothing. We walked up to the stairs that led to platform 2. Inside the station, there was also nothing.

Great. Just great.

We walked further, to the platform. There were signs of people staying here. On the ground, we found blankets and a bottle of soda.

"Seems like a homeless person to me" Ceasar said, kneeling down and looking at the stuff. "I don't see any walkers around, but there are no humans either. And I don't think we can catch a train right now."

I felt anger. I was angry. After all we did to get here, we still found nothing. I kicked the bottle away, frustrated.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Hey, man, keep it down" Keith said. "Just 'cause we can't see any walkers doesn't mean they're not here."

He walked to an office around the corner, where the administration usually was. Abby kneeled down next to Ceasar. Then she did something that surprised me. She put one hand on the blanket and the other on the ground and closed her eyes.

"There is someone here" she said. Ceasar looked at me and lifted his eyebrows. Abby grabbed his hands and put it on the same spots.

"Can you feel it?" she asked him. "The blanket is warmer than the ground. The blanket is warmed up by a body temperature. The blanket keeps the warmth for a while, like for ten minutes or something, and then it fades away. There still is someone here."

Ceasar looked at me again and nodded. "She's right."

"Then I guess we should start looking. If there is someone here, he or she could tell us what happened here" I said.

Keith came back from the office, with some papers in his hands. "I found a train schedule. Not just a regular one, but one for the evacuations. In small towns like this evacuations happen mostly by train. Does anybody have a watch?"

"It's 5 am in the morning" I answered his second question.

"The schedule says there should be a train arriving in 32 minutes."

"That means we can go looking for the person that stayed here" Ceasar mentioned. "Not enough time."

"Well, I guess that person is unlucky, then" I said. I was sick of constant delay. I was worried about Michelle, she was leading the people of the flat all by herself. She must be terrified with all those things out there.

Was I in love with her? No, I think not. She was more like a sister to me. Like Abby to Keith. I cared about her, and would never forgive myself if something happened to her.

"We just stay here and wait for the train to come, OK?" I kicked the bottle of soda away and sat down on the ground, with my back against the wall. Ceasar stood up, mumbled something about looking for something to drink and walked off. Abby joined him, after looking at Keith. He nodded as some kind of permission and then she left. Keith put the papers in his pocket and walked up to me. I held my head in my hands and pushed my thumbs in my eyes till I saw blue dots.

"Man, stop it" Keith said. He sat down next to me. "You're making yourself blind. And we can't have that." It made sense, so I stopped.

"Don't worry about my eyes, big brother." He smiled as I said it.

"You never stop, do you?" He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "You smoke?"

"Not yet." He handed one over and put the end of it against a lighter. "Well, here you go, noob."

I inhaled. It wasn't that bad of taste, it was actually quite nice. Keith lighted a cigarette for himself and blew a circle in the air. We were silent for a moment, then Keith said:

"Look, man, I know you're worried about your friend, but trust me; she's alive. And I know you still want to know what is happening and all, but not even I can tell. I don't even know half of it. And I can't tell you. The boss's orders."

I blew some smoke in the air and watched it fade away. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you go with them?"

Keith was silent, blew some more circles, before answering. He chose his words carefully.

"I joined the army to protect what I love, to protect my country, to make peace. If I had gone with them, I wasn't doing my job. They went away to get the train, leaving their own people in the hands of God."

I totally didn't expect that. Not from him. Still, he shot Nora, but I somehow felt some respect for him.

"You shot an old lady yesterday. Why?" I looked at his face, looking for some emotion, a little sympathy. There was none.

"If I didn't do what I have done now, this whole thing would get a little worse. I can't say anything more."

"C'mon man, didn't you get the memo? The world is kinda ending right now! I don't think your 'orders' matter anymore."

"You don't know what you're talking about" he snapped, looking furious, with fire burning in his eyes. "You don't know anything about the army. If you don't do what you're ordered to do, things go wrong. Really wrong. I'm ordered to evacuate the area around the Centre, and that was what I was doing. I was told not to tell anyone about what is happening, so no one would freak out and cause panic. Understood?"

"Yes sir." I threw the cigarette away. I wanted to get up, but Keith grabbed my arm.

"I'm sorry man. Just following orders."

"Was breaking my ribs an order too?"

He sniggered.

"No, that was frustration. Sorry about that too."

"Say that to my chest."

"Well, it's better than talking to your ass."

I laughed. Keith let go of my arm. Abby and Ceasar came back, they had found some water bottles and soda, and even a bag of chips. We drank and ate something. Abby and Ceasar didn't see anyone in the shop, so we thought we were really alone. Abby was just telling a funny story about Keith who once shot a football in her face, when I heard a sound.

"Sssjhh…" Abby stopped talking. We listened to the sound. Footsteps. A lot of them. How could that be possible? We hadn't seen a walker anywhere in Outside. It was them, for sure. Walkers. I heard them moaning like dying animals, feet slipping over the ground, jaws that opened and closed. We had to find a place to hide, before they saw us.

We started running around on the platform. The office was too small for the four of us. We couldn't go downstairs, the herd was at the main entrance, blocking our way out. They were walking into the station.

Again. It couldn't be. Really? Again? AGAIN?

I ran around the platform. There was no place to hide.

"Aiden!" I heard Abby say my name. I looked behind me, but I didn't see the skinny girl.

"Look down!" she said. I bowed my head, and saw her standing on the train rail, looking up at me.

The ideal place to hide. The walkers wouldn't bother to check there. I jumped down, and Ceasar followed.

We sat down on our knees and waited. The footsteps were coming closer. They had reached platform 2. I could smell them, hear them, but not see them. The moans gave me goosebumps. The smell tickled my nose. I put my hand over my face, hoping to filter it somehow. It wasn't helping that much.

We waited and waited. More of the walkers came on the platform. I looked at my watch. It was 5.25. Soon the train would be here. And we would be trapped between our saving and the walkers. Could this day get any worse?

I stood up and looked over the edge of the platform. The walkers were, well, walking. Just walking and moaning. Sometimes they stopped, stared at nothing for a while, then another touched him with an arm or a shoulder, and then it continued to walk. Weird.

I kneeled down again. We were trapped. For real.

Awesome.

Suddenly, I heard another sound of footsteps. These were faster. They were coming onto the platform as well. Right were the walkers were. The poor souls.

The second thing I heard was a loud BANG. Then there was a thud. More followed.

Next thing I knew, I felt the rails under me tremble. In a split second I glanced to my right, and my heart skipped a beat. The train was coming.

I poked Keith. His eyes widened when he saw the vehicle approaching. And it was approaching fast.

It had to have slowed down already, but it hadn't.

I stood up to peek over the edge again. I saw a man, in his mid-forties, with a shotgun, shooting around with precise shots. Next to him stood a boy, a little younger than me, with a handgun, killing walkers and reloading as quick as he could. There was also a woman, with a shovel, smashing skulls. The walkers didn't stand a chance against this team. They worked together. When one was reloading, another stepped in. When the other had to take a breath, another took over. It was cool to watch, but the train was nearly here.

"We gotta go up" I said to Keith. He nodded, and put his fingers over the edge. He pulled himself up.

"Don't shoot me!" I heard him say. "I'm not one of them. I'm alive." More BANGS followed, as if the people hadn't even noticed us yet.

Keith pulled up his sister, I helped Ceasar get up and they pulled me up. The train could be here any second, and was still not slowing down. The three people came towards us and formed a shield against the walkers. They were almost done with the slaughter. There were bodies everywhere and with all the blood you could fill up a pool. The train rushed by, not stopping, just rushing over the rails. The speed made the air around us swirl. We would've definitely died if we'd stayed on the railroad.

When the last walker fell on the ground, the three people turned around.

"Well, we didn't expect to see other survivors here" the man said. He had friendly, brown eyes and a brown beard. He wore a green t-shirt and a brown pants. On his back he wore a backpack, looking like a real survivor in the jungle or something. It seemed as if this was his everyday job. He held out his hand.

"John's the name" he said. "This is my wife Kelly and my son John junior."

I shook his hand. "Aiden. Thank you for saving us."

"Well, we weren't planning to, we just wanted to catch the train" he said, with a friendly smile. "Same as you, I guess."

"It's seems we've all missed it" Keith said. "My name's Keith. This is my sister Abby, and this is Ceasar."

"A good morning to you all" Ceasar said, and Abby just smiled and politely nodded.

"You're right, my friend" John senior said. "It seems the disease has also hit the train stations. That's too bad. We have to find our own way to Distance."

"Distance? What disease?" Ceasar asked.

"Distance is the village where they're taking everyone" Kelly explains. "It's a farmer village, it's not that far away, but without a car it's quite impossible to get to it."

I looked Ceasar in the eyes. _Don't tell them._

"We were hoping the trains were still going, and I guess we were right about that" John said. "But there not stopping at stations like this. I'm afraid we're on our own again."

"Well, I think it's better if we all keep going then" I said. "It was nice meeting you."

"Don't you think it's better if we travel together?" John said with a frown. "If we're in a bigger group we might stand a chance against those eaters."

"Yeah, but they can see us faster if we're in a bigger group" Ceasar objected. "I really want to thank you for your help and all, but it's better if we go our seperate ways."

"You're welcome" Kelly said with a smile, laying a hand on her husband's arm, as if she forbid him to speak more. "I hope we can see each other again in Distance. Good luck on the road."

"Thank you" I said, and faked a smile. Abby stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something, but Keith grabbed her hand and shook his head. Abby pouted, but obeyed.

"Well, I guess we should be going then" John said. "I wish you all the best on the road." He walked up to me and we shook hands again. Then they walked away. When they were out of the station, Abby started talking.

"What the hell was that?" she said to her brother, placing her hands on her hips. "You're just sending them away, without telling them we have a car?! You're just sending them into their deaths?'

"Abby, listen." I said. "The car is full, we can't take in more people."

"But we could have gone with them! They could've protected us! And taught us how to take care of walkers!"

"Abby, it's better this way" Ceasar explained. "You've seen the herd today. They come out of nowhere, while we thought it was fine. If we go out there on foot, not even us as a group can survive."

"You think stopping at every gas station is a better idea?!"

"Shut up, Abby!" Keith suddenly shouted. "Yes, it is a better idea! We don't have another choice! Just shut up!"

Abby's face turned from angry to scared. Keith seemed to be shocked by his own fallout, and opened his mouth to apologize, but he kept it in for some reason. There was this awkward silence between the four of us. You could feel the air trembling with tension.

"Let's go" I said to break the ice. We stepped over the corpses of the walkers. When we walked through the station, a voice in my head said: "They didn't tell us about the disease." Keith never dropped the word 'disease'.

Did John know more about this whole thing? Was he also part of this huge "Vendetta", like Keith? I remembered Keith's words: "If I didn't do what I have done now, this whole thing would get a little worse." Those two things had something in common. I just needed to figure out what.

Ceasar got behind the wheel. Keith sat next to him, so I had to sit in the back. There was something else I wondered; "Didn't they see the car standing here?"

That family could've gotten a car themselves. Why did they choose to walk?

Still a lot of questions, and no answers. Abby sat next to me, still a little in shock about Keith shouting at her. She could handle surviving on her own in the bad times, could watch a slaughter of walkers, but her big brother shouting at her; nope.

Ceasar looked through the mirror and gave me a look. I turned my head. I didn't feel like being all secret-buddies with him right now.

He started the engine and we drove off. Keith sat in his seat, and suddenly he held out his hand and started pushing buttons on the radio.

"See if we can hear a message or something" he grumbled as an explaination. It was only a little static at first, but then we heard a voice saying: "Evacuation of Runem…Townville, Outside, Nowhere, Steps, Autumn and the Centre overrun….do not go there. I repeat; do not go there…Evacuation to Distance and Lagoon…..medical care and army base…..end of message."

We listened to it for four times, and then Keith turned off the radio.

"Well, it's worse than we thought" he grumbled. "So, then Distance it is."


	5. Chapter 5: Camp

**Allo my friends,**

 **Back again, with another chapter. I did some grammar checks here and there, but if you happen to spot any more, feel free to tell me ;)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own twd. I have the feeling I should say this, even though there haven't been any appearances of the actual characters from the show yet, but the idea and plot is pretty much the same)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 5: Camp_

It was almost noon when we finally got close to Distance. Finally. Since the bag of chips at the train station we hadn't eaten anything. And I really wanted to see Michelle again. I wanted to know if she was alright.

The area around Distance was like a real farm land. Fields with cows and sheep. I saw a tractor driving by, an old man with a sickle.

Yup, farm land.

We needed to drive another 15 minutes before we finally got to the town. Abby hadn't said anything during the whole trip from the Outside train station to Distance. She was still angry with Keith for shouting at her, and with all of us for not telling the people who saved our asses at the train station about our car. Ceasar was humming softly. Keith sat next to him, not even complaining. He looked exhausted, even though he had slept the most of all of us.

The last half hour we hadn't seen any walkers. Here, everything seemed to be spared from the things that happened in other places.

We had reached the town. The houses looked old fashioned and were standing close to one another. There was no soul to be seen. W

We didn't get out immediately, like we did the last time. We waited. Ceasar stopped the engine and leaned back.

"We're here" he said. "What do we do?"

"Make some noise" Keith said, "see if we alarm anything."

Ceasar pushed on his wheel and a loud TOOOOOT echoed through the empty town. There was nothing coming out of the houses, nor the alleys. It was weird no one was here, even though we had seen an old man in the fields….

There was a second sound from the car, still nothing. Ceasar tried a third time, and this time a man in an army uniform came running through the alley. He held up his weapon against us.

"Get out of the car, now!" he screamed, opening the front door. "Let me see your hands!"

We did as he said and got out the car. Abby stayed close to me, looking scared like a mouse in front of a cat. Ceasar whispered prayers in Spanish, before getting out of the car. Keith just stood there with a poker face.

Surprisingly.

"Is anyone infected?" the soldier asked.

"No, we're clean, boss" Keith said, with his sarcastic voice and smile. The soldier walked up to him, searched his entire body, probably searching for weapons or something. He did that with all of us, then he said: "You're clean. You can lower your hands. What are you doing here?"

Keith eyed me. _Let me do the talking._

"We've heard a message on the radio that the evacuated would be brought here. And that there would be a medical centre and army base."

The soldier lowered his weapon. "Where did you come from?"

"The town of Outside."

The soldier looked surprised. "More from Outside?"

"There are others here?" I asked. "Did they come by train?"

"Yes, yes, a whole group of citizens from Outside. They just got away before it got overrun by walkers."

Aha, so it is a term army men use to describe them. The first time I heard it was when we tried to escape the supermarket and Keith played the bait for them. He called them walkers as well.

Then I it hit me. They're here! Michelle is here!

"Where are they? Are they OK?"

The soldier was silent for a moment. Then he said; "Come with me. It's not far."

He turned around and started walking back towards the ally.

"Wait," Ceasar said. "What about my car?"

"Just leave it here, there is not a soul who would touch it, trust me" the soldier said to him.

We followed him to through alley he'd appeared from. At the end of it, there were bars, with a chained lock around it.

That looked really weird in this deserted town. The soldier opened it with a key from his pocket. Behind the gate was a big white tent with people in there. There were soldiers in there, but also normal looking people, citizens. They were walking around with papers in their hands and writing things down. In the middle, there stood a desk, with a man sitting behind it. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was waxed to the back of his head. He was writing too, names, places, numbers and things I didn't understood. He looked up as we entered.

"Hauzen, who are these people?" he asked, with a voice that showed no emotion. "Explain, please."

"I found them in the town" the soldier said. "They're from Outside. They have a car and drove all the way."

"That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I asked you who they are" the man said, with a tone you can't argue with. The soldier looked at us, gesturing us to introduce ourselves.

"Aiden Drain."

"Ceasar Forges."

"Keith and Abigail Reese."

With the last two names, the man lifted his eyebrows. "Reese?" he asked, suddenly interested.

"Family of doctor Miriam Reese?"

"Yes!" Abby said. "She's my mother. Is she here?"

"Yes, she's in the medical-tent, caring for the wounded." The man stood up from his chair and grabbed a paper from his desk. "So, you got away from Outside, like the others? How?"

"We did the bait-strategy , sir," Keith answered.

"Ah, the bait-strategy. Smart, Sergeant."

"Sir?" Keith looked confused.

"Admiral for you, sergeant."

"Admiral" Keith said. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, sergeant Reese" the admiral said. "You were the one who left our forces on their own when we had to pull back. You stayed, when the battle was almost over. You stayed when there was no hope. You disregarded your orders." With every sound his voice got louder. His face still had that poker face-look. He then put his hand on Keith's shoulder.

"You got some balls, kid" the admiral said. "If you hadn't ignored the orders you were given, most of the people here would have died. What you did, was heroic. Good job, son."

The look on Keith's face was hilarious. He seemed to be frustrated, happy and sad at the same time.

"Now, go see your mother." The admiral patted Keith on his shoulder and walked back to his desk. Keith was still silent, but did the salute with his hand against his forehead and his legs against each other.

"Hauzen, please escort sergeant Reese and his friends to the medical service" the admiral said, before getting back to his work. "Get them checked."

Hauzen took us out of the tent, into the camp. Everywhere I looked, there stood the same, big, white tents. Everywhere walked people, normal people and army men. It almost looked like a real village. I saw people walking with food and drinks, there were even children playing. It was a strange feeling of….normal. The past two days were only about surviving the world that had changed so fast, that I almost forgot how life used to be. Weird how experiences can change your perspective of things you thought to know so well. And it has only been two days.

I looked around the camp. I saw lots of people, but I was searching for one in particular; Michelle. Hauzen escorted us to the medical service, but I wanted to look for her.

Abby ran inside looking for her mother. Keith followed, than Ceasar went in, after that I walked in. The tent almost looked like a real hospital. Almost. Only, the beds were standing close to each other on both sides. Almost every bed was taken. Most of them by elderly people, and those who were very sick. There were also a couple who were heavily injured, like they had got in a fight or something.

I was still looking around, when a woman walked up to us. She had that blond hair and those blue-greened eyes; Keith and Abby's mom. Abby ran towards her and jumped into her open arms. Her mother was shocked and happy at the same time, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She kissed her daughters forehead and smiled, thanking God for this miracle. And then, she saw her son. She let go of Abby, and her lips formed his name, without making a sound. She walked up to him, held his head in both her hands. Keith was taller than his mother, so she had to look up to look her son in the eyes. She cried while she hugged him. Keith hesitated, but then he put his arms around her.

"Hi, mom" he said awkwardly. She just nodded, not able to say something. Abby stood next to her, smiling a real smile for the first time. Her mother looked at me and Ceasar, and Keith was so polite to introduce us to his mummy.

"This is Aiden, and Ceasar" he said. "They….saved me." Wow, he had never called us his saviours. It was rather the other way around. First I was Sherlock, now I was Superman.

Great.

I shook hands with her, and I couldn't help it but to ask: "Have you seen a blonde girl, about my age? Her name's Michelle and she's from Outside."

Miriam smiled and nodded. "Yes, I had met a blonde girl from Outside named Michelle, I think she's in the tent they call "the kitchen". She's helping the cook to make dinner tonight. I guess you will find her there."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

There were a lots and lots of people walking around, and I was afraid I got lost, when I smelled food. Spaghetti. I followed my nose, which would absolutely lead me to the kitchen. I saw a tent at the other side of the path, there was a light on the canvas and smoke came out of a whole in the roof. In the light I could see a silhouette. Her silhouette. I could see her long eyelashes, perfect straight nose with a little whip at the end, her hair that fell down her shoulders. It was her, definitely.

I ran towards the kitchen and swept away the "door". She turned around, with a spoon in her hand and a towel over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she saw me, standing in the "doorway", with Nora's dried up blood still on my shirt, sweating like an animal.

"No. Way" was the first thing she said. She let go of the spoon, which fell down on the ground, and ran up to me. She jumped an put her arms around my neck.

"I knew you would come back" Michelle whispered in my ear. "But please, don't ever send me away again."

"I won't" I said. "Never. I promise."

She let go of me and looked at me. "You're dirty. You smell like walkers."

"O, so now everybody is using that word now?"

"That's what those army-guys call them. You know, they're really nice, once you get to know them."

"That's because you're a girl. Well, at the other hand, Keith really does seems nice."

"Is that the guy you fought with? Is he here too?"

"Yep, with his little sister, who is much nicer than him, by the way."

"And Ceasar? How is he doing?"

"He's fine, he's here too. He's a great driver."

"I met this boy who has an uncle named Ceasar, and he also lived in Outside. Maybe I should go tell him he's here."

"Let me do that for you, so you can keep an eye on the spaghetti."

"Oh, yeah, shit." Michelle picked up the spoon from the floor and walked back towards the bowl with sauce. "I'll see you at dinner, then?"

"Absolutely." I waved at her and walked out the tent. I felt so relieved, to see she was OK. It was a short conversation, after worrying for so long. But everything was cool.

We had made it to the evacuation camp, and there were no walkers, for once. And maybe I could get a real night of sleep. I felt so good. And I wondered how long it would stay this peaceful.

"Well, let's find Ceasar's nephew" I said to myself. I walked through the stream of people walking in the camp. I noticed that every corner of the camp had one tent with the name of the town they got evacuated from on it. Why hadn't I seen that earlier?

Because you're an idiot, Aiden. _Duh._

I searched for the name "Townville" (what a weird name for a city, by the way), cause Ceasar told me his sister and nephew lived there. I saw a tent with a board "Townville" at the most left corner of the camp. I wanted to go there straight away, when I saw Ceasar already walking towards it. Well then, job's done.

Another mission accomplished by Superman. Thank you, thank you.

What to do next? I just headed back towards the kitchen and walked in, when I bumped into Michelle making out her boyfriend Tyler.

 _Well, this is awkward…._

I slowly moved back, so I wouldn't interrupt them. It was always me that hat to bump into those things. It was good to see Tyler was alive, but come on, Michelle could have told me.(No, I'm not jealous.)

I looked at the tents, searching for the name "Outside", maybe I would find an old friend from high school or something. I walked up to the most right corner, when I heard a gunshot. People screamed, kneeled down or fell down on the ground, hands over their heads. I kneeled and crotched towards a tent.

Please, no walkers, please no walkers…..I should have known better. I would have wanted it to be walkers if I had known what had entered the camp. This was just as terrible, maybe even more.

There were more gunshots, and people screamed terrified.

Something fell through the air and fell down on the ground. It looked like a can, but not a soda can. There was smoke coming out of this one. I pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth. The smoke got into my eyes and they started to tear up. I looked around and saw people coughing and waving their arms around, trying to find their friends or family. From the corner of my eye I saw a dark shadow approaching.

I turned my head towards the main entrance. When the smoke went down a little, I could see big figures appearing out of nowhere, their faces behind masks.

They carried guns, but these were no soldiers. The man in the middle was a small man, with a belly and big hands.

I crouched behind a canvas, my eyes still teary. Who were these men? And what were they doing in the camp?


	6. Chapter 6: Menthis

**Hellooo!**

 **Ugh, it's been too long again. Apologies, apologies, my few readers. My head is clear again, I can remember how a laptop works, thank god. So here's chapter 6!**

 **(Disclaimer; I don't own the concept of TWD)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 6: Menthis_

The moment I heard the gunshot, I thought : Walkers. People outside the tents panicked, and fell on the ground.

 _Please, don't let it be walkers, please don't let it be walkers…_

"Mom!" I shouted. She was helping an old lady who was hyperventilating.

"Mom, we have to hide! There are walkers in the camp!" She looked up to me and her face was full of fear, her eyes widened.

"No, that's impossible" she whispered. "They can't open doors."

"Didn't you hear the gunshot? They are here, we have to hide!"

"If there are walkers here, as you say" my mom said. "Then they army-men will protect us. Don't worry, sweetie."

"The army tried to protect so many things, and it still went wrong! Mom, we gotta hide!"

"I'm sorry, Abby," she said. "I can't go, I'm not leaving my patients behind. Not this time."

She walked over to me and hugged me. "Find your brother, OK? Meet me back here, and we will stay together. The soldiers will protect us. Trust me." She let go of me and gave me a push."Now go!"

Still a little dazzled, I turned around, and started running. Most people were laying on the ground, not dead, but protecting themselves from whatever was coming.

There was smoke everywhere, it got into my nose and eyes. I held my hand over my nose and mouth. _Yeah, good idea to wear this dress when the world is ending._ My denim dress I had bought with my mom, wasn't that dirty, not as dirty as Aiden's t-shirt. Well, I hadn't done anything with blood actually.

I kneeled and stayed low, as I started crouched towards the tent of the admiral. Keith had gone there, because he was asked to join the meeting about boring army stuff. He had gone with that guy Hauzen, who seemed nice by the way.

I made my way towards the tent there were only normal people, no army-men. Where were they? Did they leave again, like with the supermarket in Outside? There were more gunshots, but I couldn't see where they were coming from. There was too much smoke. People screamed in fear, still lying on the ground. Why did they do that? They should be running around, panicking, and trying to find a place to hide. I coughed, the smoke hurt my throat. I now wish I hadn't done that, because suddenly I got grabbed by my braid. Someone lifted me from my feet.

"Let go, let go, please!" I screamed. I kicked with my feet and tried to feel the hand that grabbed my hair. The hand that held it was gloved.

I wanted to turn my head, but that hurt too much. I kicked behind me, hoping to hit something like his balls.

And I did.

He let go of my hair and I started running. I didn't look behind me, I was too scared. I ran towards the admiral's tent, and I was almost there, when suddenly I got grabbed by my arm and pulled into another tent. I wanted to scream again, but the person who grabbed me put his hand on my mouth.

"Shh, they will hear us!" he whispered. It was a guy who looked a little older than me, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was tall and looked a bit like someone who didn't go outside much. He was wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the superhero "Martian Manhunter", which I found pretty awesome for a second.

"I'm letting go of my hand, OK? Do not scream, I'm not going to hurt you. Unless, you're with _them_." His voice was sweet, but trembled, like he was even more scared than I was.

"With whom?" I whispered when he released me from his grip.

"Those men who are taking over the camp" he answered. He sat down and leaned with his arms on his knees. "They came out of nowhere with guns and started shooting. They're in the admiral's tent right now, and I've seen some blood on the canvas."

"And you saw me running to the tent and grabbed me so I wouldn't get shot?" I kinda finished his last sentence.

"Well, yeah" he said. "I couldn't let you go in there, could I? With those men in there?"

I wanted to thank him, but suddenly a thought came up. Keith! He's still in there!

"Thanks for the rescue, but I gotta go." I stood up and wanted to walk out, but the guy pulled me back.

"No way! Are you crazy?"

"You don't understand" I said, and I was kinda panicking. "My brother's in there!"

"I'm sorry, but you won't stand a chance. They shoot you the moment you enter the tent."

"But Keith…." More gunshots and screams came from outside. I walked away from exit and put my hands around me. I was so scared. I left my mom behind with a couple of old and sick people, my brother was probably dead if I listened to what "Martian Manhunter" said, I didn't know where Aiden nor Caesar was. What to do, what to do?

"Silence!" someone shouted from outside. It was a low, manly voice, that scared the hell out of me. I moved to the exit and looked through a hole in the canvas. Manhunter came next to me.

"What is it?" He whispered.

I saw small fat man in a suit, and a tall, muscled man, also in a suit. He wore sunglasses, and to me he just looked like agent Smith from _The Matrix_.

"Silence, everybody!" the small fat man shouted, as he fired his gun into the sky. The people got silent.

"Good," the man said "now listen carefully. We are here to help."

The people in the camp looked confused. What? Then why were they shooting at us? The tall man stepped forward. He took of his sunglasses, and looked around. It seemed he looked every person in the camp in the eyes, like he was reading their minds or something. Creepy dude.

"My name…." he stopped after those two words for a dramatic silence.

Really? _Dramaqueeeeen!_

"…is Menthis. I am not from the army, nor the government. I am a normal person with a normal job, like most of you."

He started walking towards the people, who were standing up and moved back, afraid of the "Agent".

"I am not here to harm you. I am here to help. I am different than the soldiers here. There were monsters at your so-fine-secured gate, and WE stopped them. The soldiers, they ran away."

The man had an interesting voice. A voice people wanted to listen to, like he was reading a bedtime story or something. It was relaxing and terrifying at the same time.

"They ran away, like they did before. Leaving you to yourselves, with no weapons, nothing to defend yourselves with. You are lucky we are here for you. We can protect you against the monsters that rise up from the dead."

Again people got confused. Rise up from the dead?

"Oh? They haven't told you yet?" Menthis stopped walking. "They haven't told you? They haven't told you anything, have they?"

He walked towards a woman with a child in her arms, as if creating sympathy somehow. "They haven't told you what was happening, right?" The woman hesitated, but then she shook her head.

"And to you, little girl?" He touched the child's cheek with the back of his hand.

"No, mister" said the girl. She looked scared at first, but Menthis' smile was one that made you feel comfortable.

"Shall I tell you what happens, when you get caught by a monster?" he asked. The girl looked confused and looked at her mother. But her mother didn't know what to do.

"Tell us!" Some guy in the camp started shouting. "Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" More people were joining him and almost the whole camp was screaming it. They were swayed so easily. Unbelievable.

Menthis held up his hand, demanding silence. The screams faded away, and Menthis started walking again, and while he talked, he made movements with his hands, like an actor in a musical. Well, it almost looked like he was performing on a stage.

"You want to know what happens?" he shouted, with a loud, low voice. The people answered with a loud "Yes!"

"Do you really want to know, what happens, when a monster catches you?" Dramatic silence, again.

"When a monster catches you, it eats you, alive. You've all seen it happen in your own towns. It eats all the flesh off your bones, till there's nothing left. Just a few crumbles. And if you get away, you probably think of yourselves as lucky. But what if you got bit? Or scratched? What happens? You don't know, do you?" He turned to the other side and started walking the other way, still looking at his audience.

"When you get scratched, or bit, you get sick. Really sick. The fever burns you out. You can't eat, or drink. Not even move. You're getting weaker every minute, till you can't move. The fever burns you out till you can't do anything but breathe. Your organs will stop one by one, till only your heart and lungs are left. Then, you stop breathing. And when your heart isn't getting any oxygen, it stops. The bite or scratch has become your death. But that's not all."

He stopped walking and turned his back to his audience.

"There's more. You think you're dead when the heart stops beating. But in your brains, there's still life. In just a small part of it, closest to your neck, there is still life. It's still working. Everything else in the brain is dead, everything in the rest of your body is dead. But that small place in your brain is still alive. The bite or scratched has infected all of the body, but at that small point it does something else. It starts to reboot the brain. It's wiping out what used to be there, and places something else in it. A different program."

Menthis turned around. He looked at his audience, who were silent as the grave.

"When the brain is rebooted, its starts up the body. Not the heart, just the other organs. The lungs are useless, because the heart isn't working and doesn't need oxygen, but somehow the lungs involve the streaming of the blood through the body, without involving the heart. Strange, isn't it?"

He took some time to look around.

"How Mother Nature works? When the organs are restarted, the person wakes up again. It wakes up from the dead, but not as the person he used to be. This is just the body of the person, not the person itself. The body has woken up from the dead, but the person who lived there is gone. For good."

The audience looked shocked and started whispering to each other. I looked over my shoulder to Manhunter. His eyes were widened and his eyebrows were lifted.

"Do you think it's true?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I don't know, he sounds very convincing, and his story seems biologically speaking correct."

I turned back to the hole in the canvas. Menthis asked for silence, wasn't he finished yet? Where were the soldiers?

"These good army-men didn't tell you this, did they?" he said. "They didn't tell you anything. They just told you to come with them and that everything would be OK." He folded his hands behind his back. "Well, they lied. It isn't going to be OK. People are rising up from the dead. We are not save, anywhere. I even heard a story of an evacuation in Outside, where the army showed up, and an hour later they left, leaving the poor people on their own. That is not what the army is supposed to do. The army is about protecting what we love, and fighting for our country. And at that point, the army-men weren't doing their jobs."

His last sentence reminded me of someone. I had heard it before, but couldn't remember who said it. It didn't sound like Keith. He was as sergeant, but still, it didn't sound like something he would say.

"I have come here to help you. I have survived on my own, I have found others. I know how we can survive this madness. If we work together, like real people of Runem, we will survive. We don't need the army! We don't need people fighting for us anymore! We can do it ourselves, and you know it! Deep inside, there's a voice who is the bravery in you. The superhero that can fight. The army has left you again, they were gone the minute the monsters got in here. They don't know how to fight the monsters, but we do. We have found a way to kill them. We can survive this! Who is with me?!"

"Menthis! Menthis!" the audience shouted. They were finally saved. Finally someone who told them what was happening, instead of keeping it a secret. Someone who looked strong, knew what he was talking about, who made them feel save. I believe him at that moment. I believed he had found a way to get rid of walkers, but I couldn't believe the part where he said that dead people got back to life. That's ridiculous. And the army wasn't gone. Absolutely not. They would never do that. Well, Keith would never do that. Right? The soldiers had left Outside, that was true. Keith didn't.

 _Keith had left you and mom for the army._ Yeah, but that was a billion years ago. Times were different. That was the time my mom was married to this guy called Philip. He was nice at first, but after a while he got angry with Keith. They argued almost every day, about the smallest things you can imagine. Philip started shouting at me too, about things as "Why is the remote of the tv on the couch and not on the table?" He could go on for hours about nothing. At some point, Keith had enough. He moved out, and went to join the army. I hadn't seen him for the last five years. Philip got angrier every time I got home from school, and he started arguing with my mom.

And wait, it's getting worse. My mom found out Philip had an affair with another woman, and they already had a child together. When my mom wanted to call her lawyer to arrange a divorce, he hit her in the face. I was sitting on the couch and they were in the kitchen. When I walked in, I saw that my mom's cheek was bleeding and Philip with his fist in the air. I screamed and he turned around and….

The people were still screaming "Menthis! Menthis! and he got hugged and shook hands with the people. Their saviour. Still, he was a huge dramaqueen.

Keith had left me and my mom with Philip, even though he knew what Philip did or would do to us. But did that mean he could leave us again, like now? Keith wasn't a pussy, I knew that, but it had me thinking.

I turned towards Manhunter-guy.

"What do we do?"

"I think we should go outside, ask that Menthis-guy were the army-guys are."

"Really? You think they didn't leave us?"

"Of course not. I've been here long enough to know that the army leaving us because of a few walkers, is bullshit. We've had more attacks of walkers yesterday, and they were able to handle that. Besides, the walkers can't get through the gate, unless they can climb now."

"Are there other exits in this camp? Maybe they got through there."

"Well, there are a few, but Menthis and his buddies came through the main entrance, the gate."

"You're right. You think he is lying?"

"Absolutely sure" he said and nodded.

"Then what do we do?"


	7. Chapter 7: Baseball bats and screwdriver

**Heyo! Back here with another chapter!**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 7: Baseball bats and screwdrivers._

Menthis had gone into the admiral's tent, but his buddies were still outside. They didn't looked that harmless as Menthis described them to be. I still didn't know if we could trust the guy or not. I mean, the army wasn't leaving us behind, at least not because a couple of walkers outside the gates.

These people that are with Menthis said they had found a way to get rid of the walkers, but did that mean the soldiers didn't? Is that why they left? And some of his words…it seemed I heard them before. It was so confusing. I wanted to believe Menthis, I wanted to believe that we could all survive this if we workedntogether, but…it just didn't feel right.

I turned my head to Manhunter. I wanted to say something, but another question came to mind.

"What's your name?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "Max."

"In case you're wondering, my name is Abigail, Abby, if you like."

"Well, Abby," Max said, a little surprised by my weird interruption after the long story of Menthis "What do we do?"

"I think we have to look inside the admiral's tent" I said. "There's blood on the canvas, but I can't see if it's from a walker or a human. So I say we take a quick look inside."

"They never let us pass them," Max objected, pointing at the men with the big-ass guns.

"We got to get them away from the tent, so we can sneak in."

He sat down and started to draw out his plan in the sand.

"OK, how's this? This is me," he pointed at a circle with four little sticks at it, "and these are the guards." The drawing was getting better and better.

"I run to the exit which is the most far away from them and shout "Walkers in the camp!" Then they come running to me and you go to the tent."

Max was a nice guy, but seriously; his plan sucked.

"Look, Max, I really like your drawing, but this isn't going to work. The first thing those men do his protecting their leader, Menthis. So they're staying with him the whole time. I won't get in without a bullet through my head."

"Yeah, you're right," he swept away his sand drawing, "can't we just ask them if we could talk to Menthis? Ask them nicely?"

"You think that will work?"

"Well, you're a girl, you should know that kinda stuff…"

"Max, what are you saying?"

"Well, you know…flirting and all…"

"What? Are you serious right now? You think I'm some kind of slut?"

"No, no, absolutely not!" He held up his hands, like I was going to hit him. Well, I almost did.

"I just thought….never mind." Max's face was full of shame, I almost felt sorry for him.

I sighed and stood up. I tried to wipe the sand of my dress, my poor, pretty dress.

"Where are you going?" Max asked.

"Well, DADDY. I'm going to look for my mom. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'll be home before dinner!"

OK, that was kinda mean. I almost walked away, but I found it wasn't nice of me to just walk away when he had just kinda saved my life.

"You want to come with me?" I asked. "Maybe my mother knows what to do."

He stood up, with a little red on his cheeks.

"Uh, sure."

When we got to the medical service, there were a lot of people standing in line. They were all excited about something. I heard them talking about a "new doctor", "helpful man", "very polite", a "life saver" and a "miracle." I walked pass them and wanted to enter the tent, but a guard stepped before me.

"Wow wow wow, where are we going, lady?" he asked, holding his shotgun against his chest.

"To my mother, doctor Reese" I answered, I looked him in the eyes and wanted to look confident, but I was actually scared as hell.

"Yeah, right. Go back in line, like everybody else."

"No, wait, it's true!"

"Yeah, and I'm the son of Menthis. Go cry somewhere else, your mommy ain't here."

"Are you so sure about that?" My mom's voice made the man turn around. "Let my daughter pass, please."

I never forget the look on the man's face, hilarious. I walked past him, giving him a look; _told ya._ Max wanted to follow, but the guard pushed him back.

"You ain't going nowhere, son."

"He's with me" I said.

"Don't tell me he's your brother. I ain't that stupid."

"He's my nephew" my mom said. "Let him pass."

The guard was having a bad day. He stepped aside and let Max through.

"Mom, what is going on?"

For two days I was confused. My mom was acting strange. Every time I asked her where Keith and the rest of the soldiers were, she said something else.

"They left us.", "They're on a run for supplies.", "They're evacuating other towns.", and most of the time just "They're gone."

The last thing I remember about the soldiers and Keith, is that all of them had to come to the admiral's tent. An hour after that, Menthis and his gang entered the camp.

My mom was lying, obviously. She would never say that Keith left us. Not even when he moved out and left us with Philip. She always believed in his choices, even when they were stupid and made no sense. She always looked at the bright side, but now….she had dark circles around her eyes, looked pale and her eyes were most of the time red, like she'd cried all night. I was worried about her, but asked no questions any more. She wouldn't answer it anyway.

Menthis had left the same day he arrived. The next day he came back with medical supplies and food. He was a god to most of the people, they immediately believed his lie about the army. How could they be so stupid?

He had made my mom head of the medical service, and she was busy all day. Menthis himself sometimes helped her in the tent, other times he went to the "kitchen" and helped making food, then he helped securing the exits in the camp. Menthis was a goody-goody, our "saviour". I had hoped that he was that saviour that would protect us all, but he lied about the army, and that was what confused me. I didn't know if this guy was good news, or bad.

Aiden had joined Menthis' gang, which surprised me. I thought he could see further than the story Menthis told. I didn't think he would believe him, but he did the opposite. In some way, I could understand his decision. I mean, the soldiers had left him in Outside, that made it easy for him to believe they had done it again. Aiden was most of the time busy guarding the exits, they even let him carry a gun.

Caesar wasn't that stupid. Well, not as stupid as Aiden. Caesar actually didn't care. He had found his nephew Pablo, and was thinking about leaving the camp to look for his sister in the Centre. And now I think about it, Caesar is maybe even more stupid than Aiden. The Centre got completely overrun, there were just a few people who made it out in time. There were like, 20 of the million who made it out. OK, maybe more, but you know what I mean. It was a stupid-ass idea to go to the "red-zone", like my mom called it.

In the past few days I got to know Max a lot better. We hung out a lot, because there was not a single fuck to do in the camp. He told me he was from Autumn, a city close to the Rhody-mountains. He used to live there with his mother, but she got bit by a walker and turned, so he got in his mom's car and drove away. I felt really sorry for him, losing a parent isn't easy. And surely not like that. That's just brutal. He almost cried when he told me.

But we became good friends. There were not much teenagers in the camp, well, only a couple. Most of them were stupid twelve year olds or seventeen year old emos who only smoked all day. Not much people to hang out with. I think it's because most of the teenagers our age were still at school when the outbreak started… It scared me to think that. It was recess at my school when my mom called me and told me to get out of there. I told my friends to go home too, and they did. They were not here, which scared me. What if they….

Max became my best friend from that point on.

The third day was different. Max and I were hanging around in the Autumn-part of the camp, where Max came from. We were just sitting in the grass, playing tick-tack-toe, when a man walked up to us. He had blue eyes and dark blonde hair. He was big, as in really tall. He had big arms, very muscled, and his chest was like, one meter long. OK, maybe not a meter, but you know what I mean. He stood before us, and at first he didn't say anything. I looked at him, then continued my game. When I looked again, he was still not gone. _What do you want?_

"Uh, sir," Max asked "can I help you?"

"O, er, yes. I….uh….Menthis is giving a class about how to take out a monster. He sent me to get all the teenagers to the field. Yes, that was it."

Wow, and I thought Caesar was an idiot. But his offer sounded interesting.

"Max, should we go?" I asked him. "It sounds like a good idea."

Max lifted his shoulders. "Why not? Let's go."

The man smiled, and there appeared a row of brown/yellow teeth. "Come with me." He turned around and ran with his short legs towards the nearest exit. Note; every exit in the camp was different. The main entrance was the gate of steel, of course. The second was in the part of Townville, this gate was the door to a grocery store. We could go through there and then enter the town. The groceries weren't enough for all the people here, but we got Menthis. Yaay.

The third was close to the kitchen. This one was a door that led to a pub, so the cooks could go to the kitchen there to get stuff like sauce pans or spoons or whatever they needed.

The fourth and last was through a barricade of cars and, I'm serious, a tank. It's at the very end of the camp. It's a little complicated to explain, but the camp is basically set up inside the town, in a park. It's so huge, it's almost like we are caged by the houses. At the weak spots, there are fences and guards. It's pretty organised and well done in such a short amount of time. It's been five days since the outbreak, in two days all the humans were evacuated when it was still possible. The rest are dead, or walker. It seemed to me there was no possibility of surviving outside this camp.

I don't know what's behind the last barricade. I've never gotten close and nobody could/wanted to tell me. I was surprised when the man led us towards this gate. I really wanted to know where it went. The guards let us pass, and the man opened the gate. Behind it there was a huge field of grass and seeds. I could see a beautiful landscape, with hills far away and a forest at the other side.

There were more teenagers; the twelve year olds, which included Pablo as well, the emos, a couple of early twenties. Those were our "classmates." There were three men of Menthis club, Aiden too( _bastard_ ) and the gentleman himself. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. I was surprised to see him wearing anything but a suit, even in the kitchen he wore a suit. But not with this. Before him stood a table, I recognised the admiral's desk. On it stood a box. Menthis smiled at us when we walked over to the group.

"Welcome!" he said with a warm voice. "Welcome! Now that we're all here, we can begin. I let my men collect all the strong, healthy, young people to this field for a special occasion. I'm going to teach you how to take out a monster, or a "walker", if you prefer to use the military phrase for these creatures."

"I'm not talking the language of traitors" said one of the emos. Some of the others agreed by making grumbling sounds.

"In this box I have some weapons for you" Menthis continued, brightening his smile by the words of the group. "With these I will teach you how to kill them. If you just stand in a row, please. Yes, very good. I will all give you a weapon that suits your size."

Max and I stood at the most right side, basically the last ones in the line. Menthis opened the box.

"You" he pointed at the first emo in the line. "Step forward. What is your name?"

"Michael, sir."

"Well, Michael, I can see you are not so tall for your age, but you have strong arms and legs. For you, I have an baseball bet." Menthis handed over a bat with an aluminium top. Michael looked at it like it was a Barbie doll.

"Seriously? And this is supposed to stop those things?"

"I'll explain later. Please stand back in the line. Next please."

The second stood forward, she was given a hammer. A little better. I was kinda wondering what I would get.

Menthis gave everybody in the line a weapon, till only Max and me were still without a weapon. He looked at Max when he stepped forward.

"How tall are you, Max?" he asked.

"Uhm… 6.43 feet, sir."

"I see, you seem the tallest here. I have something special for you."

Menthis walked away, towards the tank and disappeared behind it. He came back with a…pickaxe. Probably the most useful weapon here. Max looked shocked that he was given this 'weapon', but Menthis was right. This suited him. Max stepped back in line, and now it was my turn. Menthis looked at me, from head to toe.

"Funny to see the biggest and the smallest person are standing next to each other" he said. Since when did twelve-year olds get so big? At first I felt kinda insulted, but then I didn't know which weapon he was going to give me. He laughed. He touched the belt of his trousers and suddenly he held a knife in his hands. It was a sharp, short, hunting knife. The other kids probably hated me now, for getting the best weapons. They had screwdrivers, a shuffle, a crowbar, a golf club, a pipe(?) and a tire iron. What was this man thinking?

"Well, now everybody has a weapon, we can start the training" Menthis said. I noticed a big truck riding towards us. "Before we start, I want to point out; don't be scared. And whatever happens here, stays here. Is that understood?"

We all nodded. The truck was coming closer. I really wanted to know what was in there. I looked at my new knife. I never held such a weapon, only in the kitchen. I felt dangerous. I hoped I wasn't going to hurt anybody. Well, if they were not walkers.

The truck stopped, turned around and drove backwards towards us. One of the men walked towards the truck and told him to go further, and then stop.

I turned my head to look at Aiden. He quickly looked away, and I saw a little guilt lying in his eyes. That scared me. What was going to happen?

A man stepped out of the truck and walked to the back. I could hear screams coming from inside. Not human screams, more like….. o my god. No. Fucking. Way.


	8. Chapter 8: Training

**Hello few readers! Back again with another chapter!**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of the Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 8: Training_

The driver of the truck walked to the back and came standing next to Menthis.

"I would like to introduce you to Bob, he will assist during trainings" Menthis said. The man was big, like, real big. He made me think of "the Rock", you know, that Dwayne Johnson-guy. He was that big, he had dark eyes which seemed to look right into your soul, he had a scar over his cheek, from just beneath his eye to his jaw. He was like a pirate, a really big, scary, walker-killing pirate.

Bob, if that was his real name, looked at the group. He wasn't pleased, but nodded. I wondered what his voice was like. It would be ironic if his voice was like one of a teenage girl. I'm sorry, I'm no good with jokes these days.

"Bob, please open the truck" Menthis commanded. Bob snorted, like he didn't want to be commanded.

I was scared, I already knew what was inside. Bob opened the truck and inside, there stood cages. Cages full with walkers.

I regretted the decision of coming here. The walkers screamed and growled and reach out their arms through the cages, trying to grab us. Those stupid things didn't realize we stood 7 meters away from them. Still, they made me almost poop my pants. I mean, legging.

Bob got in the truck and he picked a stick from the back behind the cages. At the end of it, there was this thing you can put around the neck of a bear or another big animal, to keep them away from you. I forgot the word for it.

Bob opened one of the cages with a key from his belt, and with one quick move, he had put the stick-thing around the neck of the walker. Bob held the stick in front of him and started walking. The walker tried to turn around and grab him, but Bob's strong arms held the stick tied, forcing him to walk forward. The walker fell out of the truck. Bob stepped on the ground, grabbed the hair of the walker and pulled him on his feet. The walker seemed to feel no pain, he still tried to get to his keeper.

"OK," Menthis started, and all the eyes were on him. "As you all know, this is a walker. I have told you the story about how to become a walker; it starts with the brain. And to kill a walker, you have to end it with the brain."

I was stunned to see Menthis so comfortable, he was just standing half a meter away from the deadly monster. He looked at us and made movements with his hands while he talked, like he was giving biology class.

"First, I will show you how to kill a walker using a hammer, like most of you." One of his men stepped forward and handed over the weapon in question. Menthis turned it in his hand, trying to feel balance or something. He then hit the walker in his belly, ripping it open. Blood fell on the ground, his organs were all brown and jelly, like mud. The walker still showed no emotion nor pain, he was still focused on getting Menthis in his filthy hands.

"See?" Menthis acted like he just performed a proof with chemistry. "The rest of the body is not important. It's the brain were you have to get them."

Menthis held up the hammer, and with one strong move he let down the hammer come down on the head of the walker. I could hear it's skull cracking. The hammer went down through its brains, very deep. The walker moaned one more time, before falling down on the ground. Menthis had to put his foot on the head to pull out the weapon. Bob grinned and picked up his stick.

"That's how you kill them" Menthis said, weeping sweat from his forehead and breathing heavily. "For now, we don't practise on the real monsters. We have special…practise dolls."

Dolls? Really? OK, I was happy not to work with the real guys, but still, dolls? Menthis' men walked towards us and put sticks in the ground with…pillows? Wow, it seems their small on budget.

"Everyone, take a buddy and stand in front of it" Menthis said, like it was Christmas eve. I walked over to a "buddy" and pulled my knife. It felt cold, but light in my hands, and I felt comfortable with it.

"Now, you've seen you got to hit him in the brains, and that's what we're going to practise today. I will teach you how to get real close and prevent them from biting you. But first, we'll do some warming up." Menthis smiled, _again._ "Killing a walker is exhausting, even for you young people. We start with jogging with intervals, to build up some condition. Go all over the field. 1 round please, cause it's the first training. Every training we'll do one more. Let's start!"

This didn't seem so bad. I could run, I had done some volleyball before this all started. We did some practise with stretching and we had to do push-ups, probably to train our arms. When we were done, most of our group was all sweaty, because today was a hot day. It was august, the hottest time of the year in Runem.

"Good, good." Menthis applauded. "Now, get to your buddies and let me see how you think you take out a walker."

We did as he said. I stood before my "buddy", with Max next to me. I felt more comfortable when he was around. The walkers were still screaming and moaning, even though Bob had closed the truck.

I shook my head and turned to my buddy. I held the knife in my hand and put it forward, to the place where the head should be. I kinda imagined how it would go through his face, and it made me sick. I pulled back the knife and stepped back.

"What's wrong?" Menthis questioned. "Scared of a pillow?"

I said nothing. I didn't want to talk to this liar.

"Show me what you got." He stood still and watched me. I didn't move.

"Come on, you can do it." _Yeah, that gives me courage, NOT._ "I gave you a knife, a very handy one. Use it in your favour."

"Abby, just do it." I was surprised to see Max looking at me with his pickaxe, pointing at the buddy. "It's not that hard."

I nodded, and tried to smile, but the walkers in the truck made me feel scared again. Menthis seemed to notice.

"You're scared of them?" he questioned. "You're scared of undead, dumb, ugly monsters?" He walked up to me and his face got really close.

"You're not like the military, are you? You don't run off, do you? You're not like…." He quickly shut his mouth, like he almost told me a secret I wasn't supposed to hear. He smiled innocent as he stepped away from me.

"You're not like them, right, Abigail?"

I shook my head.

"Then show me."

I did as he said, I stepped forward and pointed the knife where the head should be.

"Hmm, not bad," Menthis said. "But if you're going to kill them like this, you have the chance to get bit. The knife won't reach the brain in time, it's too deep in the skull. You have to attack them from the side. Like this."

He pulled his other knife of his belt. He put his arm around the pillow and put the knife in the left side, and turned it slightly and then pulled it out.

"You have to make sure the brain is really damaged before you pull the knife out" he explained. "With weapons like this, you only have one chance of success. It better to attack them from behind. If they see you first, your only option is to put the knife in his forehead, where you can directly hit the brain, or through the chin, with a slight turn. If you go by chin, you have to put it very deep, otherwise you won't hit the brain trunk."

This whole instruction made me sick. Really, what the fuck was he thinking? All this shit about brains and blood and death…..I felt my sandwich of this morning coming up, but I kept it in. I had to stay strong. It will be over soon. And then you never have to be afraid of walkers again.

We practised until the sun went down. We had to give back our weapons and get back to the camp, and be back the next morning at sunrise. I was exhausted and hungry, and I smelled like shit. My dress was ruined. I had done laundry yesterday and was so happy to wear it again, but now I had to do it all over again. Next time I would wear jeans or something, if I could find it.

Max seemed almost dead. He had to practise with the pickaxe, and he told me his arms burned as hell. I felt lucky to only carry the hunting knife. We got straight to the kitchen, where they served tomato soup. I went to a table where I saw my mom, sitting with a couple of nurses. Max sat down next to me.

"Man, I'm hungry. Don't freak out if I look like a bear when I eat."

"Max, trust me, I'm used to it" I said. I played with my spoon in the red soup.

"Seriously, when did tomato soup get this delicious?!" he said. "I think I'm getting another."

I saw Aiden get in the tent and he walked up to a girl with blond hair. They seemed to know each other, because they hugged and talked.

Aiden was a traitor. He believed that nonsense Menthis told everyone. How could he abandon his friend? Well, Keith and Aiden weren't actual friends, but still. They had survived together through the "red-zone", saved a lot of people who lived in Outside, worked together. Aiden saw me looking and his smile faded away. In his eyes, I could see guilt. Loser.

"What do you think happened to the soldiers?" I suddenly asked. Max almost choked in his soup.

"You still think they're lying?" he asked. "I don't want to be rude of anything, but maybe you should consider that they actually left…."

"I can't. It's only been three days, maybe they're only on a run for supplies, like my mom said" I objected.

"Your mother tells you something different every time you ask her about it. Abby, I don't think they're coming back."

My spoon slipped out my hand. "No, I just…..can't. Keith would never…"

"Abby, it's not only about Keith. It's about all the soldiers. The whole military."

I held my head in my hands. "No, no, no."

I stood up, leaving my soup on the table, and ran out the tent. Max was stupid. He didn't even know Keith. He just said what he heard. Or believed. I walked to the camp side where the girls of Outside slept. I lay down on a mattress and hid my face in a pillow.

The next week we practised everyday on killing walkers. Well, pillows. Most of the time we only did exercises with arms and legs, to get more muscles. That idea made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I still enjoyed doing something useful.

I still found Menthis strange, but I did as he said, to prevent his creepy face from staring at me. Max didn't want to talk to me at first, but we got along later on.

After 7 days, you could see that everyone in the class was gaining some muscles. It kinda made me think of kid soldiers, but this was necessary. We had to defend ourselves, now that the military wasn't there anymore.

We got to practise on each other, to learn how to kill when the target is actually moving. Not with the real weapons, most of the time with sticks.

The 8th day, Menthis wasn't waiting for us at the field. There was only Bob, standing in front of the truck, loaded with walkers. Shit.

"Today," Bob said, and his voice wasn't girly at all, it sounded like Darth Vader, but without the helmet that made the echoes, "we're doing something special. Today, we finally learn how to kill a walker. No more pillows, no more weak teenagers. Real, undead, hungry walkers."

My heartbeat rose, and I almost started hyperventilating. I held my knife in my fist, till the knuckles got white and my nails hurt my hands. _You can do this, you can do this._

"This is how it's going to happen" Bob said. "I'm going to release these walkers from their cages, and you have to get rid of them as a group. Everyone chooses a walker for their own to kill. We are not here to help you. This is your fight. Good luck."

Bob stepped in the truck, and I figured that he was serious about this. What the hell? We only trained for a week! One week! I now hoped Menthis was here, he would never put us to this. Not until we were ready. And after one week, you're not ready!

Bob had opened all the cages and jumped out of the truck. A couple of kids tried to get back to the gate, to escape, but the men of Menthis pushed them back. I noticed Aiden wasn't here right now. The pussy. He didn't want to see me get eaten. Well, fine.

The walkers in the truck started to notice the cages were open and got out. Then they saw us. They're face only said; "Food, food!"

A couple of girls, who were so badass with killing pillows, started crying seeing the real deal. Max stepped back, hiding behind me. Like I could protect him. 145 centimetres tall, yeah right. The other boys were trying to be strong, but I bet they were peeing their pants just as much as I did. We looked like real freshmen. Never been here, never done that.

The walkers were getting closer, reaching out their rotting arms and moaning for flesh. Their jaws went up and down, making a scary clicking sound. Their feet were unstable on the ground, but they were still fast as fuck.

Suddenly, I felt something inside. A burning feeling, of anger, fear and sadness. It started in my chest, and went all over my body. I closed my eyes and opened them, knowing exactly what to do. I held up my knife and started running. I approached the first walker I came across. I circled around him and jumped. I screamed as I put the knife in the back of his head. Not the best place to put it, but after a quick turn the walker fell down on the ground. I heard more coming up behind me. My classmates were still standing close to the gate, doing nothing.

I ran up to another walker and put the knife with a slight movement in his throat, smashing his brains trunk. They were all around me. I wouldn't make it. I started to kill. Pure madness was flooding through my blood. My muscles hurt, but I kept fighting. How many of them were in that truck? I didn't know. I kept moving and killing, until I got grabbed by my braid. Two rows of teeth were ready to take a bite out of my cheek, but suddenly a pickaxe smashed the back of the walkers head. The corpse fell on the ground, and behind it stood Max. His eyes widened, realizing what he had done. But then he nodded at me with a wink and we got back to back, facing our enemy.


	9. Chapter 9: A strange day

**Hello few readers of this crappy story! Another chappie for you lovelies!**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 9: A strange day_

There we stood, back to back. Me with my little knife and Max with his awesome pick axe.

"So, this is it, huh?" Max said.

"I guess so" I answered.

"Well, it was nice meeting you and all, and I'm sorry for offending your brother."

I laughed.

"No, I'm sorry for walking off like a little kid. You were right, Max. Maybe they're really gone."

The walkers were closing us in. I kicked at them, and killed another with my knife. When I wanted to pull it out of the skull, another walker almost bit my hand of.

"Shit!" I stepped back. Now I had no weapon. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"What is it?" Max asked.

"I lost my knife. We're doomed."

Then, I heard screaming. I turned my head to see my now awesome classmates coming running at us. The walkers had no time to turn around, as their skulls were smashed to pieces by hammers, screwdrivers and baseball bats.

Michael pulled my knife out of a skull.

"Here" he said, handing the weapon over to me.

"Thanks…" I ran towards him, pushing him aside and pushed my knife through the eye of the walker that was sneaking up on him.

"I guess we're even now?" I said, smiling. He nodded. We both started to run and kill every walker we got to.

The moans and grumbles stopped after a while, and I looked around. The field was full of corpses. The living were all sweaty and full of muddy blood. I looked at myself. I was happy I wasn't wearing my pretty dress today.

"We did it! We did it!" one of the twelve-year olds shouted. We all shouted of happiness and pride. I saw Max. He dropped his pick axe and came running to me. I jumped into his arms.

"We did it! We're alive!" I said.

"I can't believe it! I thought we were going to die here!" Max put me down on the ground.

"But you didn't" a low voice interrupted. Bob was coming out of the gate. He clapped his hands and grinned.

"Well done, "students", well done."

All the laughing and shouting stopped. We all looked at Bob, the idiot that forced us to do this. I grabbed my knife.

"Oh, come on, you stupid children" he said. "This was your exam, and you made it."

We all walked up to him, holding our weapons.

"He, this wasn't my idea, your friend Menthis came up with it."

What? Really? Oh, Abby, you're so stupid! Of course he did! That man is crazy, you should've known better!

"Well, we better have a little chat with our dear friend" Michael said, putting the baseball bat on his shoulder. "You comin'?"

"O yes" Max said, holding his pick axe in his strong arms. "He is a cool guy, but crazy as hell."

He looked at me. I nodded, putting my knife on my belt. We walked up to the gate.

"Let them pass" Bob said, and the guards stepped aside. We walked through the camp, to the tent of the admiral, a.k.a. Menthis' office.

"We want to speak to Menthis" Michael said to the guards. They laughed at him.

"What? You ain't getting in here. Go cry with your mommy."

Michael looked at us. We nodded, and out of nowhere, he slammed the head of the first guard in with his baseball bat. The second was stunned, grabbed his gun, but fell on the ground when a pick axe was sticking out of the back of his head.

We were lucky most of the villagers were having lunch, otherwise this would cause panic, big time.

Michael stepped inside, and we followed. Menthis was sitting at his desk, writing shit down. He looked up and his face got pale.

"O, hello," he said, his voice trembling a bit. "Are you done with the training yet?"

"Well, yes, actually" Michael said, looking at the blood on his baseball bat. "And want to have a lil'chat with you about your way of teaching."

"I'm really sorry, but I am really busy right now. Can this wait?"

"I don't think so," Michael said, as he stepped closer to the desk.

"OK, OK, what do you want to talk about?"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Michael suddenly shouted. "Putting us against walkers, after one week of training? We are not toys, you asshole!"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Liar! You were the one who came up with the idea of training us! You were our teacher!"

Michael held up the baseball bat. I think he was going a bit far, we said we weren't going to kill him. Just talk.

"You don't understand. This training was supposed to be over two weeks!" Menthis looked like a little kid, holding his arms in front him and his eyes closed. Michael led down the baseball bat.

"Bob wanted to train you for once" Menthis explained. "I said OK, he was supposed to bring you to a building were we held walkers on chains, so you could practise. I didn't know he would do this to you!"

Michael turned around.

"Do you think he's lying?" he asked us. He looked at me.

"I don't know" I said. I stepped forward. "I think he's telling the truth" looking at the man who acted like an eight-year old.

"Thank you, thank you!" He said.

"Don't thank me" I said. "Where are the soldiers?"

I had to ask it. Now was finally the time. I had to know.

"I told you, they left!" Menthis said, letting down his arms. "We saved you from the walkers, we were your helpers, not the military."

"Stop lying!" I said, and I grabbed my knife. "Where are they?"

"They are gone, I told you!"

"I asked for the truth!" I was so mad, I didn't even notice Michael who came standing next to me.

"Abby? What's this about?" Michael asked. I ignored him and kept looking at Menthis.

"Sir, I don't like to do this, but I have to know" I said. "My brother is with them. Please, tell me where they are."

There was a loud boom outside. It scared the shit out of me and I turned around.

"What was that?" Michael walked out the tent. Max and a girl followed him. I turned towards Menthis.

Menthis eyes widened for a moment. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"I just can't." He looked down, like a scared puppy. "They kill me if I do."

"Who? Who is going to kill you?" Not such a hero after all. "Menthis, tell me." I put my knife away, it was not doing any good. "I just want my brother back. He means the world to me."

Menthis looked me in the eyes and opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but then closed it again. "I'm sorry, I can't."

Michael and the others came back. "Bob and his men blew up the back entrance. Walkers are breaking through the gate in Townville. We gotta go."

"Who is threatening you?" I asked Menthis again.

"Didn't you hear your friend?" he said, and he was the always-a-smile-on-my-face-man again. " We have to run!"

"Abby, you have to continue this conversation later" Max said. "We have to get your mother, now!"

Shit, my mother. He was right. I turned around and ran out of the tent.

There was chaos in the camp. This was different then the arrival of Menthis. This time there were really walkers. People didn't kneel down on the ground when there was a gunshot. Menthis had told them that when there was a walker-attack, we had to run. Run and don't look back.

My group and I were running through the camp. We were all looking four our family and friends. Menthis was running towards his own men, and probably told them what we had done. He had found his two dead guards outside his tent, and he would probably do everything what he could to kill us.

But he was not my problem right now. I had to find my mother. I held Max's hand, so I wouldn't lose him in the chaos. We reached the hospital-tent, and then the walkers had destroyed the small, wooden door that led to the grocery store. I had no idea how they found out we were here. I suddenly thought of the people who wanted to kill Menthis. Maybe they set this up…

We ran into the tent. My mom was helping the patients out of their beds and put them in wheelchairs. The nurses led them out, into the chaos.

"Mom!" I shouted. She looked scared, seeing me with blood and a knife hanging at my belt. "I'm OK, but we have to get out of here!"

She nodded. "But first, we have to get these people out!"

"But there's no time…" Max objected.

"Just help her, OK?" I said to him. I let go of his hand. "We can do this, trust me."

There were gunshots coming from outside, and people screamed and ran by. I could hear moans and immediately knew we didn't have much time.

I walked towards an old man in a wheelchair. He saw me coming.

"Don't mind me, dear" he said. "I'm too old for this shit."

"My mom won't leave until everyone's out" I said. The man grinned.

"Miriam, yes, your mother is a good doctor. I'm not letting her kill herself for some old fool like me. Just…" He hesitated. He looked at his watch, an old, antique one. "…..let me die the way God wants me to. I'm betting this will be more spectacular than a stupid needle."

I smiled at the old man, but felt tears in my eyes.

"Do you really want this, sir?"

"Yes, I've seen enough of this world. Let me go to the next one."

"Good luck" I said.

"Take good care of your mother for me" he said. "There are not much people like her. She has a good heart."

I saw a shadow on the canvas of the tent, behind the old man. I stepped back, grabbing my knife.

"Yes, this is going to be interesting" the man said, turning the wheelchair around.

Max walked up to me.

"Everyone's out, we have to go." He then saw the last old man.

"He's not coming with us" I said. "He's staying."

Max looked scared to see me crying, but nodded. We turned around and ran out of the tent.

When I looked behind me, I saw a walker running towards the old man, who stood up from his wheelchair and spread his arms, facing his death with open arms.

My mom, Max and I made it out of the camp. We managed to reach the kitchen-gate and we found shelter in the local library. I don't want to describe the chaos in the camp, it's not a nice thing to talk about.

Caesar and Pablo drove off, they're on their way to the Centre now. They left us behind, me, after all we have been through.

I saw Aiden and that blond girl he talks to every evening escaping through the main entrance. I wonder where they are now.

Menthis escaped through the same entrance as Aiden and Michelle.

Most of the people made it out in time, and went with the men of Menthis. I found it weird Menthis himself didn't go with them.

The patients from the hospital-tent and the nurses went with them too. My mom went with us, which was a mystery too. I figured she wouldn't let her patients behind, but she did. She was now sitting in a chair in the library, Max on the ground, playing with his pick axe. I stared through a window, where I could see the camp, overrun. Walkers were eating the ones that didn't made it out in time. It was no fun to watch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Michael running out of the pub, with another guy. I ran away from the window, down the stairs.

My mom stood up from her chair. "What is it?"

"Michael and some other guy, they managed to escape. We have to help them!"

Max didn't hesitate for a second, he grabbed his pick axe and followed me to the door. I gently opened it and ran outside.

"Michael!" I whispered. In my ears, it was pretty loud, but I didn't think the walkers had developed super-hearing yet. Michael turned his head and saw me. He grabbed the other dude and ran towards us. Suddenly, there were gunshots. I looked up, and saw a man standing on top of the roof, with a rifle, shooting at Michael and the other dude.

Max pulled me back inside.

"No! What are you doing?" I pushed him away from me. I wanted to open the door again, but a bullet went through it. I duck, just in time. More bullets went through it. I looked behind me. My mother hid behind the chair, Max sat on his knees. I covered my head with my arms. The bullets were flying all over the place.

Then it stopped. I sat there for ten minutes. When I was certain he was gone, I crawled towards a window.

I saw Michael lying on the ground, with his baseball bet next to him. There was a pool of blood around him. He was dead, no doubt. But the other dude was gone.

I looked at the building, the man with the rifle was gone.

I sat down on the ground, with my back against the wall. I put my arms around my knees and my knees to my chest.

 _What the fuck happened? What the fuck happened? Is this real? Where is Keith? Where is Menthis? Are we dead? Are we going to die?_

I didn't know. I didn't know. This was turning into the strange day. I looked out the window. The sun was going down, the sky was turning red. The day was almost over. I wondered what the night would bring us.


	10. Chapter 10: Stupid bandages

**Hello!**

 **Chapter 10 whoop whoop! I hope you all had a nice Halloween (if you celebrated it anyway)**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 10: Stupid bandages_

My mom tried to make some comfortable beds to sleep in for the night. She'd found some jackets and used some pillows from the chairs.

We lay on the floor, far away from the entrance of the library, between the bookshelves. My mother fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, and Max soon followed. But I couldn't sleep. The picture of Michael laying on the street in a pool of his own blood wouldn't go away. I felt guilty, I was the one that shouted at him. And what happened to the other guy that was with him? Was he dead as well?

I stood up and stepped over Max, who lay next to me, looking happy and safe. I wished it was true. I walked over to the window next to the entrance. The night was dark, the moon hid behind the clouds. Walkers were coming out of the gates of the camp, there was probably no food left for them. It meant that we were trapped in here for now. Or not, if there was an exit at the other side of the building. If I wasn't able to sleep, I better do something useful. I walked past the sleeping beauties and went investigating. The library was big, it had 2 floors, all with books. I liked to read fantasy and was thinking of becoming a writer of myself, but now I would be happy just to be alive.

The wall at the back of the library had three identical doors. I felt like Gandalf, who got lost in Moria, the dwarf-mines. I did not know which way to go first. I went to the most left of me, which was my first disappointment; locked. I went to the second. This led to an office, probably from the librarian. I searched through the desk, trying to find something useful. In one of the shelves, I found a….gun. A small revolver.

 _Why the fuck would a librarian…? Never mind. Don't ask questions Abby, just take it._

4 bullets, not bad. I put the gun behind my back, between my belt, like I saw in the movies. I didn't, and still don't, understand why they do that. It's not comfortable, at all. I put the gun in right pocket. Much better. Like a mobile phone. A really dangerous and deadly phone.

I also found some matches. Could always come in handy.

I walked out of the office. The third door then. I almost opened it, when I heard a sound coming from behind it. My first instinct was to grab my knife, but after thinking about it, I grabbed the gun. I walked behind a desk and peeked over the edge, to the door. I heard breathing, footsteps slipping over the floor. _Walkers?_

I waited, but the thing behind it didn't open it.

 _Was it a walker?_

I waited again, no change. The footsteps had stopped, but the breathing was still there. It scared the shit out of me. It was dark and my only light were the stars through the windows. It was like the worst horror-game you could imagine. Worse than _Amnesia_ , or _Slender_.

I walked away from the desk, towards the door. I held the revolver in front of me, finger on the trigger. My hand was shacking, I must've looked ridiculous. I put my hand on the doorknob, and held my breath. I turned it, and behind the door was a hallway. I put the gun in front of me, and looked both ways. The end of the hallway was dark, I could not see a thing.

 _Typical Slender._

On the floor I could see a body. It was alive, no doubt. It breathed heavily, like it was hurt, but not like a walker. I walked towards it, still holding the gun in front of me. The thing did not seem to have noticed me.

Yet.

The closer I got, the more sure I was it wasn't an undead thing. I kicked it.

"Hey, you." I wanted to sound brave, but it sounded more like a mouse. The body moved, and cursed.

"Son of a bitch, ahw."

"You bit?" I asked, still holding the gun.

"No, dude. I got shot, by that asshole on the roof."

"I'm not a dude" I said, putting the gun away. "Were you with Michael?"

"Yeah, he's my neighbour. Or was. He didn't make it. You knew him?"

"Yes, he was….a friend." In the end, he really was.

"Hey kid, could you give me a hand?" The guy tried to get up. I grabbed his arm and helped him stand up. He cursed a lot, but we managed.

"Thanks. My name's Tyler."

"Abby. How did you get in here?" I got straight back to business.

"Through the backdoor, over there." He pointed at the other end of the hallway, the part which was too dark to see.

"I see. Did anyone see you?"

"I think not. Do you have any idea what is happening?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here." I walked back to the door which led to the library. "Come with me, we got a doctor. She can take a look at your wound."

"Doctor Reese?" I froze and slowly turned around.

"Yes. Do you know her? Does she know you?"

"Yeah, everybody in the camp knew doctor Reese. I don't know if she remembers me."

"Which side are you on? Menthis?" Don't worry, if he was, I wouldn't kill him. Or would I?

"I'm on my own side." He was sweating, and leaning with his hand against the wall. He needed help, why was I taking so long?

"Come with me." I led him to the library.

"We need alcohol, and some bandages" my mom said. "You're a lucky man, Tyler. The bullet's still in one piece. We would've had a problem if it was broken inside you."

"Uhm, thank you, doctor" Tyler said, looking a bit pale.

"Where do we find bandages, or alcohol, in a library?" Max said, still a bit sleepy.

"Well, I found a revolver in the office," I said "who knows what more this place is hiding."

"Let's go on an adventure, then" Max said, as he stood up. He yawned. "Does anybody know what time it is?"

"Somewhere around 5 pm" Tyler answered. "Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Don't mention it." I walked away, towards the stairs. I didn't like this guy. He was only trouble. Sneaking through the back door of our safe house, with a bullet in his leg. And now we had to look for supplies to fix him. Lucky my mom brought her own pair of tweezers.

Max followed me.

"So, where to look?"

"I guess we better check the staff only-area first" I suggested, pointing at a door behind him. "You check there, I'll go look at the first floor, maybe there's some secret liquor-cabinet somewhere."

"Yes, boss." And he was gone.

 _Boss? Seriously?_

I shook my head and smiled. I walked up the stairs and came at the first floor. I looked around, just seeing bookshelves.

The closest thing to alcohol to find here is a French wine-guide.

I walked around, reading titles of books, when I found a key. A key? To what? I put it in my pocket, maybe I would find a door to it.

I turned around to read the next row of books, when I saw a small cabinet. I seemed to have a gift for these things, looking through a bookshelf and finding things you miss the first time you see it. I walked towards the cabinet and kneeled down. What do I find? More books!

"Jesus Christ…"

 _I could really use a miracle right now._

There was this little moment of hope, and it was gone like sand in the wind. I'm always a drama queen when I'm sad, OK?

I sat down, leaning my back at….a bookshelf. In a library. With human-eating-monsters on the streets and killer-terrorists on the roofs.

Max walked up the stairs. "Abby? The door to the staff-area is locked. I can't go in there."

"Luckily, I found a key." I held the small metal thing in the air.

"No way, you did? That's….awesome."

"Let's check it out."

The hall behind it was dark.

 _Surprising._

I grabbed the matches out of my pocket and lighted one. It wasn't helping much, but we had to do something. I slowly walked into the hallway. In one hand I had the match, the other was close to my belt, where I held my knife. Just in case.

"Don't push me!" I whispered to Max. He walked behind me and wanted to see where we were going, but his pickaxe poked in my back.

"Sorry. You're not scared of the dark, are you?" I could hear a grin in that sentence.

"Of course I am. At some point, everybody is."

 _Television, hello?_

"I'm not everybody. I'm not scared."

"Well, if you're so brave as you say, why don't you lead?"

"Uhm… never mind."

"Not so tough, uh?"

I bumped against something. I almost screamed, but I kept it in. Max at the other hand…

"You scream like a girl, you know that?"

"Oh I'm sorry, but I'm not the one bumping into every piece of furniture in the room!"

"Shit!" The match was burning my fingers. I grabbed the box and wanted to lit another, but my hands were shaking too much, so I accidently dropped it.

"Damn it." I kneeled to pick it up, touching the floor, when suddenly my hand touched something else. I jumped, like, one foot in the air, but didn't not scream.

"What? What is it?" Max grabbed my shoulders.

"I touched something. I touched something. It was gross."

 _Iew, iew,iew,iew….._

"Isn't there a light switch somewhere?"

"No, no light!" I warned him. "If we do that, they probably see it from outside."

"You're right, let's go back."

"No, we have to find bandages and alcohol. Otherwise, Tyler dies."

"Abby, we barely know the guy."

"So what? I don't like him either, but that doesn't mean I let him die!"

"OK, OK, let me look for the matches." Max walked past me and touched the floor with his hand. He screamed and cursed when he touched the thing.

"Holy shit! It's a hand!"

"What? Is there a body here?" Holy fuck, this was not good. Not good at all. For my heart, at least.

"Right here, but I think it's dead." Max kneeled down at where the corpse should be. "Shall I check his…pulse?"

"If you can…we gotta make sure."

"O god…" I heard some ruffling. "He's really dead."

"What are you doing?"

"Just let me….Yes!" A second later a bowl of light shone in my eyes. "He had a flashlight!"

"Ahw, man, keep it in front of you, not me!" I blinked to get the blue spots out of my eyes, and saw Max picking up the matches.

"Holy shit, the dude shot himself. Don't look. Let's go. I see a door over there" he quickly said.

We walked further through the hall. I kept my eyes from the body that lay on the ground, too scared to look. Which was actually pretty stupid, if you think about it. 12 hours ago I was slaughtering the undead, and now I was afraid of the dead?

We kept walking till we got to the door.

"Please don't be locked, please don't be locked" Max said, while he grabbed the doorknob. I heard a soft "click" and the door opened. Max smiled relieved. He shone the flashlight in the room. It seemed to be a relax-area or something. There stood a couch and a TV, a table, and in the corner was a little kitchen. I walked towards that area, it seemed the most logical place for our treasures.

"Max, a light, please" I said. I climbed up on the sink area, there was a bottle on top of the fridge. Yes, I was too small to reach it. I can't help it.

"Vodka. Think that will do?" I said, handing over the bottle to Max.

"Let's hope so. Now the bandages."

"Right." I jumped down and looked in the shelves and drawers, nothing really useful to find in there.

"OK, if you lived here, where would you put the fucking bandages?" I asked myself.

"There must be a help-kit around here somewhere." Max shone through the room, not really focusing on the task. "I don't think we're going to find it. Can we go back?"

"Not yet." I looked in the last drawer, to find some batteries. "That would come in handy."

"What? What did you find?"

"Batteries. You never know…"

Max lifted his shoulders and played with the flashlight.

"You know, you're not really helping right now" I said, putting the batteries in my back pocket.

"I found a flashlight….?"

I somehow smiled at him. "And for that, I am grateful. But we really need to find bandages."

"Can't I just give your mother my shirt, or something?"

"I don't think that's a good idea" I said, and as stupid as I am, I blushed. "Maybe we find a towel, or a blanket."

"There's a blouse laying here, still in wrapped in plastic." He held up the shirt he picked from a shelf. _Why didn't I see that? Duh, you're a dwarf, hello?_

"Great, that'll do."

"And we are…done!" My mom smiled and patted Tyler on his shoulder. "You did good, son."

"Thank you, doctor…" he grinned sadly. "And thank you guys for your help."

"You're welcome" Max said. I just nodded. Tyler sat up, groaned and bit his lips, but he managed.

"I…uh, brought something with me, that could help us."

I turned around.

 _You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention_.

The little sentence of that one movie with Leonardo DiCaprio suddenly came up in my head.

"I was hoping you had some batteries…."


	11. Chapter 11: Vehicle needed

**Hiho!**

 **Chapter 11, and still going strong (sort of)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 11: Vehicle needed_

"Aiden! Aiden! Wake up!" A voice from somewhere very far echoed through my head. Where was I? "What? What is it?" I yawned and sat up. "What time is it?" I tried to open my eyes, but they disregarded me.

"It's the radio! It's working!" The blonde-haired girl was all screaming like there were shoes on sale. Aiden sat up and grabbed the radio from the hands of the girl.

"Hello? Hello?" he said to it. There was a long time no sound, than there was a soft "Yes".

"Who is this?" Aiden asked. I sat back in the front seat, suddenly energetic. Finally, we had reached somebody. After a week living in a van, with no signal on the radio, I got impatient. Aiden and the girl

(I forgot her name) didn't want to leave before they had found the military-guys. I told them I did not think they were still alive, but they wouldn't give up.

"Tyler. Is this Aiden?" The girl screamed of happiness and started crying. It hurt my ears.

"Tyler, baby, are you OK?"

"I'm fine. Where are you?" Sometimes the voice faded away, but we could understand what he was saying.

"We're just outside the town. Where are you?"

"In the local library, across the camp."

There was a long silence. They were in a library, with a camp full of killers and psychopaths across the street.

"Can you get away from there?" Aiden asked. He looked pale and worried.

"We've tried, but they got snipers on the roofs. I don't know if they know we're here, I don't think so."

"Are you alone, or do you have people with you?"

"I'm with doctor Reese and two teenagers. We're totally safe, trust me."

"Is Abby there?" When Aiden said her name, I turned around. She survived?

"Yes, and some Max is here too. Can you come here and get us? We have no food left."

Max is there too? They both survived? What about the others?

"We can try, is there any way of getting away from the library, to a building closer to the edge of the town?"

"I think there is. Abby and Max made some runs for supplies, and they kinda know their way around here." Tyler sighed. "I don't want to be annoying, but what if we make it out? What then? We can't run into the farmlands here, we're dead the moment they spot us."

"Is there any car you can use, just ride out?" The blonde girl was truly an idiot.

"I saw a little van, close to the post-office." Max's voice almost makes me jump out of my chair. A slight feeling of guilt feels my chest.

 _How did I get myself into this?_

"I don't think we'll make it out on time. I suggest we just sneak out at night" Tyler said.

"See if you can reach that. There's a factory, a few miles out of Distance. It's been closed down. We'll meet each other there, OK?"

"Understood. That is going to be a long walk. And Aiden?" I could hear a slight smile in Tyler's voice.

"Yes?"

"Take good care of my girl, would ya?"

"Sure thing. See you in a few days. Aiden out."

"Bye man. Tyler out."

Aiden put the radio away. He looked at the blondie, and smiled.

"They're alive, they're alive!" she cried. She almost jumped into his arms, and I saw Aiden's cheeks turn red.

"The factory, good idea" I said to Aiden. "You sure that place's secure?"

"Of course it is" he answered, full of confidence. "It was a factory that made hamburgers, but then they found out it was all horse-meat. If other people search for a place to lay low, I don't think they'll go there. It's a good place, trust me."

"And if we've reached it, what's our next place to go?" Michelle was done screaming and crying(thank god) and joined our discussion. "We're not staying there, are we? We can't make runs for supplies from there."

"We'll talk about it when we're there, OK?" Aiden seemed a bit annoyed, and most of all tired. "The best we can do now, is find a car and get on our way to the factory. And we've got to collect food. Michelle and I will gather supplies, and you go find us a car."

"Yes, boss." Finally, I got to do something. I was sick of just sitting in the car, staring at a stupid, old station-radio. Now I had to find a decent car, with gas too.

"Let's go."

I had walked for a long time, through the farmlands outside Distance. The van stood behind some trees, hidden. Michelle(I figured that was her name) and Aiden had gone the other way, there was a small shop behind the bush. I chose to check for a car at a farm, not far from where we were hiding. I could see it if I looked out the window of the van, and I was curious.

The place seemed empty. Just to be sure, I grabbed my handgun. These were strange times, you never know what's around the corner. I walked up the porch, there stood a small chair with some pillows on it, like some old lady just stood up to get some tea and could come back any minute.

I stepped towards the door, and listened. I didn't hear a thing, so I figured this place was secure of walkers. I gently opened the door, which wasn't locked.

The house was old fashioned from the inside, a bit like the fifties. Flowers, teacups, paintings…. Women-thingies. It seemed the place wasn't touched by any walker. As if this place was shielded off.

I still held my gun in my hand, and went to check upstairs. Still nothing, only old-fashioned women stuff.

In between I peeked through the bedroom window. The farm was only a farm, without animals. There were no pigs or cows outside, not even a chicken. It was kinda creeping me out. My eyes got caught on the barn, which stood next to the house. I hadn't checked over there. Maybe there's a car.

I didn't even bother to stay silent when I ran down the stairs. I had sneaked around for too long, I wanted to walk normally for a change.

When I got closer to the barn, I heard footsteps. I quickly put my back against the wall, at the other side was the opening. The footsteps went inside. They sounded lightly, so the person was young. Or small. Made it easier for me to take out. I kept my back against the wall, as I crouched closer to the entrance. As I got closer, I could hear other footsteps. Not human, and thank god not of a walker. It sounded like…a horse. I put my ear against the wood and listened. Yes, it was a horse. I could hear it sniff and neigh. The person inside scared the shit out of me when she started talking.

"Easy, Yard, we'll ride soon. Just keep it down, OK?" It was the voice of a young girl. I was surprised. _What was a girl doing here, all on her own? What was I supposed to do now? I can't just kill off an innocent child! Or could I?_

I shook my head. What was I thinking? I had been in this shit too long, and now it was starting to get in my head. No, I won't let that happen. Not again.

I stood up. I was going to show myself to the girl. And ask for a car.

I heard that the horse got nervous. As it could feel I was near. I cleared my throat. The girl didn't respond. She just continued with….whatever she was doing with the horse. I tried a different approach.

"Uhm, hello?"

"Hi" the girl said, still not looking at me. "So there you are. I was wondering when you would show up."

I didn't understand what she meant. Was she expecting me?

"I've seen you breaking into my house. Couldn't you just, ring the bell, or something?"

I was stunned. I thought I had been so quiet. Apparently not.

"Sorry about that, but I wanted to ask…."

"Who are you?" she finally turned towards me. Her eyes were green as leaves, and her dark-blonde hair was put in a nice ponytail. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and riding breeches. She seemed about 14-15 years old.

Even though, I felt busted and uncomfortable when the girl asked my name.

"James Bars."

"Cool. I'm Bree Grands, this is Yard." Her face was only poker. "What are you doing on my land?"

Her land?

"I'm looking for a car." If _she_ was the owner of this land, I did not expect her to own a car too.

"Where are you going?"

At first, I did not know what to say. I just stood there as a moron. Like I was back in high school and the teacher asked me about math.

"Somewhere else" I just said. It was kinda the truth, though.

"Somewhere else, huh? Can we go with you?"

What the hell? What was this kid thinking? She wasn't very smart, if she just goes with every person that steps on her land. And she seemed so confident about it.

"Uh, I have to discuss that with my group" I answered. Aiden wouldn't be happy with this…

"Well, you better take us with you, or you won't get the car."

Clever. Very clever.

"Are you all alone here?" I asked her. For the first time in this conversation, I saw some emotion on Bree's face. Sadness, fear. Her eyes turned to the ground.

"Yes."

"Do you have any relatives somewhere else?" She shook her head. She closed her eyes for a second, and the poker face returned.

"You're not getting the car if you don't take us with you." She turned towards Yard and started brushing his manes.

I noticed I was still holding the gun in my hand, and put it back in my pocket. _What should I do now?_ I turned away from Bree and Yard, and wanted to walk away, but then Bree started talking.

"They're all dead, if that's what you wanna know. They were sick. All four of them. I'm the last Grands, so this is all my property. Most of the animals are gone, eaten by the dead people. Yard and I are the only ones left."

I turned around, and saw Bree's tears falling on the ground.

"I want to get out of here, but I don't know where. I can't drive, I don't know how. If I ride with Yard, we'll be eaten by the sick people." She eyed me. "If you want the car, you take us with you. Me and Yard can follow you as you go to 'somewhere else'."

I was shocked. I thought I had a rough time, but this girl…..she was all alone. No family left.

I wasn't able to kill her. Not after what I heard.

She wiped the tears of her cheeks and started brushing again. I wanted to say something comforting, but suddenly, Yard started neighing in panic. He kicked his legs in the air and his eyes rolled in his head.

"Yard! What is it?" Bree put her hands on his neck, and the horse seemed to calm down for a bit, but his eyes were still full of panic. "Is it them? Are they back here?"

"What? What do you mean?" I did not understand a thing about what was going on here. "Who are back?"

"James, behind you!" I turned around to see walker grabbing my shoulders and trying to get a bite of me.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I had to get my gun, but it was stuck in pocket. The safety was stuck in the denim of my jeans. I tried to push the walker of my chest, but this guy was big. He was dead, but strong as a living person. Behind him, I saw three others running up the land.

"Bree! Get out of here!" She looked scared, but led Yard to the back of the barn. I tried to pull my handgun, and I almost had it. The others got closer, and the first would now enter the barn.

Out of nowhere, there was a loud shot. The walker on top of me stopped moving and fell down. His head was exploded and the cold blood splattered on my face.

The second walker in the barn fell down after the second shot. So did the third, and the fourth. I stood up and looked behind me. There stood Bree, with a smoking hunting rifle in her arms. She trembled, and her eyes were full of fear.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I turned towards the corpses around me. "Good job, by the way. But there's more comin'." I saw more walkers bursting through the wooden fence near the house. "I gotta hide. You comin' with me?"

Bree nodded, still in shock. I slowly walked towards her. "Shall I take the rifle? I think it's better ifI kill them, don't you think?" She nodded, and passed me the gun, as if it was something really dirty.

"Stay behind me. They're coming this way, but I don't know if they know we're here. We gotta stay quiet. Is there some place we can hide?"

"Y-yes, the stable is a good place. They don't smell us there."

"What?"

"Cause of the hay and the smell of horses. They don't smell us."

"If you say so. Where is it?"

Bree pointed at a door at the right. "Behind that door. If we go through there, we can also reach the car. It's full, so we're able to get very far from here. But there's one problem."

"And that is?"

"The keys are in the house. The kitchen, to be exactly."

My hope was gone. I was here with a teenage girl and a horse, in a barn surrounded by dead walking people trying to eat me.

"Let's just…. get to the stable, OK?" I said, trying to sound confident in this situation.

Bree kept Yard calm by whispering in his ear, as she led him towards the stables. The door was big, so he could walk through it. We went to the first stable near the door. Bree made Yard lay down and held his head in her hands as she sat next to him. I kneeled.

"O crap, what a smell!" The smell was so bad, you would almost believe Bree's story about them not smelling us. Which was interesting, it was something I should use in my research.

"What do we do?" Bree asked, silently.

"We have to get them away from the house, distract them. One of us goes inside to get the keys."

"Yard and I can do the distract thing, and you get the key" she immediately said. "You get to the car and drive up the lawn. Yard and I will follow you."

"No, wait, if you follow me, the walkers will follow you."

"We're not the distraction, I got something else. We'll leave as soon as you've got the keys, OK?"

"Yes, ma'am. One more question, how did you know how to shoot?"

"James, we don't have time for this. Just, GO!"

I nodded. There was no time, indeed. I had more questions, but I was going to ask her about that later. For example; how did she know she could trust me? I had my suspicions it had something to do with the horse. She seemed to trust his behaviour, like with the walkers.

I peeked over the edge of the stable. There were two walkers around the corner. One was just standing there, what I call 'sleeping', the other was walking around, what I call 'patrolling'.

"Bree, you get that thing, I go to the other side of the stables. If your plan works, I run over to the house to get the keys, and we're out of here."

She nodded. She said some last words to Yard, before stepping out of the stable. Next to the door to the barn, stood a pitchfork. She handed it over to me.

"Just in case. We don't want to make any sound, do we?"

I stood with my back against the wall, with at my right the house where I needed to go. My eyes where at the North, waiting for the firework to go off. When I heard the first explosion, I noticed Yard getting a little uncomfortable. I counted to sixty, and then I walked over towards the house. There was one walker in my way. I sneaked up behind him, and put the pitchfork through its skull. It wasn't that loud, but I was still scared another walker which heard it. The firework was so loud, it must have attracted walkers all over the region. But we would be long gone before they got here.

I ran further towards the backdoor of the house. I opened, and….well, this was my lucky day. Three walkers turned their heads towards me. I did not hesitate and slammed the first one to the ground. The second ran up to me. I pulled the pitchfork from the skull and put it in the next. I tried not to throw up. This was so disgusting. The third screamed really loud as he ran towards me, and I hoped the others outside didn't hear it. I kicked him in his stomach and the pitchfork went through its eyeballs. I wiped the sweat of my forehead, and ran to the kitchen.

I searched through every drawer I could find. Where were the keys?


	12. Chapter 12: Dilemma

**Heyo,**

 **I honestly don't feel like writing a hyper AN after last Friday. Just no words. I wish the few readers who might've lost someone the strength and love to deal with their grief.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Still hope you can somehow enjoy this little chapter X**

 _Chapter 12: Dilemma_

Where was the fucking key? I opened more drawers and searched again through every shelf. Nope, no key. I started to think I couldn't trust Bree. What if she had the key? This whole time?

I could hear more explosions from outside. Lightening shattered on the walls of the small kitchen. I had to get out of here, and fast.

"Damn it…" I'd reached the point where you're so desperate you start talking to yourself. All about a stupid key.

I heard moans and footsteps in the living room. They were here.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I didn't even bother being silent. I had to make a run. Car or not. I grabbed the pitchfork with both hands and started walking towards the door, when I felt something under my shoe. I stepped aside, and see….the damn key.

I had never felt so stupid in my life.

I grabbed it from the floor and ran away from the kitchen. I quickly hid behind the door. The walkers in the living room hadn't noticed me….yet. If I wanted to get back to the garage, where the car was, I had to make my way through this room.

I glanced at the pitchfork in my hands. _Let's do this._

I stepped away from the door and made my way towards the first walker. He was standing in the other direction, and I sneaked up behind him. The second came running at me, and the blood of its brains splashed on the couch with the pink flowers when I put the fork in its ugly face. I pulled back and jumped over the corpse to the door. I felt the keys in my pocket, just to make sure they were still there. I slammed the door behind me and got into the car. While starting the engine, I heard Yards footsteps and saw him and Bree coming from the other side. She climbed up on his back and nodded. They were ready. I drove the car from the garage. The walkers were still focused on the fireworks, but started noticing the car driving off. I kicked the gas pedal and drove away as far as I could. Bree was riding with Yard behind me, and hell, that horse was fast.

I never felt so happy to see the trees which were hiding our van. I got out of the car and smiled. Bree arrived a few minutes later with Yard. He was all sweaty and shaky from the ride. Bree patted him on his chest and kissed him on his forehead, whispering in his ears. I found it so weird, I mean, it's a….horse. An animal. How can you…bond with that? Yard and Bree seemed to have no trouble with that, but I still found it awkward to see.

"Are you done?" I asked Bree. She ignored me, again, but she let go of the horse. I rolled with my eyes and sighed.

"You wanted to come with me, right?" She looked at me. "Well, here is where I'm holding up right now. I'm with some other people, you want to meet them?"

"O, yes, sure!" Bree seemed excited, but I wasn't. I didn't know what Aiden and Michelle would say about me bringing another mouth to feed.

"Come on in" I said, as I turned around. I lead her behind the trees, Bree told Yard to stay behind. Aiden and Michelle were not back yet.

"We're staying here for a while, but we'll move to somewhere else soon."

"I think this is pretty awesome" Bree said, walking towards the old car. "Wow, was this abandoned for like, a thousand years?"

"I would say at least thirty" I answered. "They didn't have cars a thousand years ago."

"Of course," she said, "I'm so stupid. History wasn't my best course."

"I see. What was?"

"What was what?" she asked, still focusing on the old car.

"Your best course."

"O, that would be….math. I'm good with math. And chemistry."

"Really?" I was surprised.

"Yeah, that's my thing. But I don't like biology, I don't like blood."

"Well, that's a shame. Before this, I was a doctor, and a scientist. I made medicine and vaccines."

"That sounds boring." Bree climbed up on the front of the car and sat down. She put her knees to her chest and her arms around them.

"It's not, trust me. I made medicine that saved hundreds of people." I always told myself that. It was a lot more difficult in real life.

"Yaay, you're a real hero!" she said sarcastically. "Then please tell me why dead people come back to life? Do you have a medicine for that?"

"It's not an illness. Well, not exactly. When you get bit, you get sick. You die, and come back as….something else."

"A walker."

"What?"

"You come back as a walker. That's what the military men called them" Bree said, playing with her ponytail.

"When did you talk to the military?"

"A few days ago. It was a young guy, he seemed lost. He said something about his little sister and a camp…I gave him a horse and told him which way he needed to go…."

"Where did you send him?" This was not good. Bree had sent Keith back to the hole of the lion.

"Distance. He said he needed to go there. I said it was all overrun with the monsters and he said they were called walkers. I told him it was overrun with walkers, but he still went that way."

I was stunned. This was not good. Not good at all.

"James, you got a car?" I turned around to see Aiden and Michelle nearing the bushes. They had not noticed the girl sitting on the front of the car. I lifted my eyebrows to her, gesturing she needed to be quiet now.

"Yeah, I got one from that farm, but we need to move fast, it was overrun with walkers and they will head this way soon."

"Great. We've got enough food for two weeks, three if necessary. I've had some contact with Tyler and the others. They're almost out."

"That's fortunate. But Aiden, I need to show you something. Or someone."

"You brought someone with you?" Michelle asked.

"Yes he did." Bree smiled at us, still sitting on the front of the car.

"James, what the fuck?" Aiden wasn't pleased. "You can't just take people with you!"

"Why not? She was all alone on that farm, with only two horses. What was I supposed to do? Kill her?"

"He's right, Aiden" Michelle said. I was surprised she was with me. "One person won't make a different, would it?"

"Two" Bree said. "Yard is here too."

"How many did you say you brought with you?" Aiden's eyes got dark. "A whole town?"

"It's a horse."

"I can take care of Yard" Bree said, talking quick. "And my own. I can get my own food and other things."

"Let's just take her with us" Michelle said. "Just till we leave the factory, OK?"

"Whatever" Aiden answered. "Where is that car?"

"Behind the trees. It's open."

Aiden nodded and walked past me, bumping his shoulder to mine. He was mad, I could see that. Michelle walked after him, with more supplies.

"Nice friends you have" Bree said. I looked at her and if I had laser-eyes she would be dead now. I turned around and wanted to walk away.

"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble" she said. "And thank you, for taking me with you."

She sounded so innocent, and really ashamed. She bought herself a place in my heart. I turned around and tried to smile.

"Don't mention it. They'll come around."

She smiled relieved and sighed.

"Are we ready to go?" Aiden sat behind the wheel, with me next to him. Michelle sat in the back of the car, with all the bags full of supplies. Yard and Bree stood behind the car. She nodded in the front-mirror. They were ready.

Aiden started the car. It was still midday, but the sky was already turning yellow. We would reach the factory in half an hour. We would drive slow, so we would not cause any dust.

It was quiet in the car. I leaned with my head to the window. I had a really big problem. Keith was probably back in Distance. What happened to the rest of them? Did they also escape? I didn't know. All I wanted, was a decent night of sleep. I had been sleeping in the stupid van for too long. I was curious what the factory was like.

I did not tell Aiden or Michelle about Keith. I was planning to, it was just really difficult to time. I would tell them when the others were at the factory too.

I looked at Aiden. He had calmed down a bit, but he was still too mad to talk to me. Michelle seemed concerned about him, and Tyler of course. She'd spoken with Bree, and they seemed to like each other. Bree was riding with Yard a few feet behind us. She seemed to have a good time, with her hair in the wind and Yard neighing excitingly.

We had some lonely walkers, but no troublemakers. The factory had some big fences and strong walls, we would be safe there. At least for a week or two.

"When do you think they'll reach the factory?" Michelle suddenly asked.

"I don' know. I think it's an hour or two walking from Distance." Aiden didn't think his words through. I saw Michelle's face getting pale. Aiden didn't notice.

"But they're fast enough to reach it before it gets dark" I tried to calm her. "Abby and Max are able to handle the walkers, don't worry about that."

Michelle cleared her throat, not really convinced.

"Michelle, I promise, if they're not there before dark, me and Bree will go and get them."

"You would do that? Really?" She smiled.

"Of course. And Bree would do anything to help the group, trust me."

Michelle glanced at the girl on the horse. Bree waved at us, smiling bright, her hair glowing in the sun. Michelle waved back at her.

"I hope so."

"I don't think so. We don't know her yet. Don't get your hopes up." Aiden kicked my whole calming-down upside down.

"It's a fourteen-year old. She won't be any trouble."

"You don't know that."

"Christ, Aiden. On that farm, we got attacked by walkers. I got attacked, I almost got bit. Bree shot the son of a bitch with a hunting rifle. She could have just let me get eaten, but she didn't. She saved my life. She won't be of any trouble. I know that."

"You also told me you won't be of any trouble when you wanted to come with me. And now we're here."

"Stop this, please" Michelle said, sounding like a real mother. "You sound like little kids. Aiden, accept that Bree is coming with us. James, stop talking back to him. Otherwise you guys just go on and on over nothing."

"Michelle, this ain't nothing!" Aiden almost shouted. "We can't just take in more people every day. At first it was just you, me and Tyler. Then James came with us, later Abby, her mother and Max, and now we have another girl and a horse. This needs to stop."

"Aiden, you should stop thinking like that. This thing that's happening right now is a disaster. A worldwide disaster. I want to survive, you want to survive. So does she. We can't do that by ourselves. We need to work together, whether you like it or not."

Aiden shut his mouth. He was impressed. So was I. What Michelle said, was absolutely the right thing. We all needed to survive. Together.

We had finally reached the factory. The place was closed down, as Aiden said. The front gate was chained. It was so silent. The only thing you that could be heard, was the wind blowing through the empty halls. The building was huge. It was one square, with a high tower with a chimney at every angle. The outside of the building was grey and ugly, but the walls were thick.

We got out of the car and Bree jumped off the back of Yard. I inspected the chains locking the gates.

"We need to cut this through" I said.

"O shit, just forgot to bring my axe" Aiden said sarcastically.

"You don't need an axe to break through it" Bree said. "The chains are rusty. If we had some kind of brick or a big rock…"

"You think that will work?" Michelle put her hand on her hip. "I don't think six years are long enough to make the chains that weak."

"These chains are older than six years" Bree said, walking over towards the gate. "These chains are more like…twenty years old."

"That's ridiculous" Aiden objected. "What idiot would put a twenty-year old chain on the front gate of a factory?"

"Maybe the idiot replaced the first one," I said. "You sure this place is abandoned?"

"Yes" Aiden said, not completely sure.

"Out of the way!" Michelle suddenly screamed. She ran past me with a rock in her hands. She slammed it into the chains and there was a loud "crack." The chains fell on the ground.

"Wow!" Bree shouted impressed. Michelle gasped and let go of the rock.

"Pretty clever, huh?" She smiled.

"Let's just go inside." Aiden walked back to the car and sat behind the wheel. We moved out of the way and Aiden drove the car through the gate. Bree lead Yard inside and Michelle and I walked behind her.

"Nice move, by the way" I said to Michelle.

"Thanks. Improvising" she said, smiling proud.

The building behind the gate was even more ugly than it was at first sight. Between the first two towers was a bridge. Underneath it was a big door with grey walls at both sides. The whole factory was surrounded by a high fence. Everywhere on the ground were small pieces of wood, as if someone had cut some trees.

I looked at the right tower, and saw a shadow quickly moving away from the window.

"We're not alone." My voice echoed through the place. It's the creepiest thing you could imagine.

"You saw somethin'?" Aiden asked. He lowered the tone of his voice. I pointed at the right tower. He nodded.

"What do we do now?" Michelle asked. "Do we stay here?"

"We don't have much of a choice, do we? The others will be here by an hour." I walked up to the door between the towers. I had almost reached it, when I felt something at my leg. I looked down, to see a small thread. It pulled at something and a mechanism seemed to start up. I heard some noise above me and looked up. There was a big object coming right at me.


	13. Chapter 13: Haunted

**'Allo few readers,**

 **another Monday, another chapter. Get ready, because it's getting spooky.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 13: Haunted_

I desperately put my hands in the air, hoping to protect myself somehow, and waited for the pain to come.

But it didn't.

I heard a loud 'clink' and felt something warm. I slowly gazed up. Above be hung a wooden box, attached to a long chain. It dangled just above my head. Something was leaking between the small cracks in the wood.

Red fluid dripped down.

"James! You OK?" Bree shouted, and she sounded worried.

"I'm fine, I'm OK," I answered, wiping the blood out of my eyes.

"What was that?" Michelle asked.

"A trap" Aiden answered. "James's right, we're not alone."

"Who would set up a trap like this, in an abandoned factory?" The way Bree said it made this sound ridiculous. Maybe it was.

"Someone who wants to keep other people out" I said. "What do we do? We go in, or back?"

"We go in" Aiden said, certain of his decision. "We've come too far to go back now. We've been planning this for over two weeks, we can't quit now! If we leave, we give this person in here what he wants, and I'm not letting that happen. We go in."

"As you wish." I stepped aside from the entrance . "Enter. I'm not coming with you."

"What? You're scared of some red paint on you?" Aiden sounded annoyed.

"This isn't paint." I wiped a little from my shoulder and showed it to him. "You still think it's a good idea to go in?"

He wanted to answer, but before he could even open his mouth, some kind of alarm went off. It was an annoying, loud sound, that kept repeating itself. In both towers lights shone down on us, as if we had to evacuate. I turned around to see the gate with the bars close behind me. We were trapped. Aiden ran over to the gate, and pulled, slammed and kicked at it, but it would not open.

"Fuck!" he screamed of frustration.

Suddenly I heard a manly voice. A laughter. An evil, dark, laughter.

"Ahw, you're trapped, are you? Like a little mouse, in the hole of the cat. Peep, peep, peep!"

The man sounded crazy, his voice went from shouting to whispering and back. Then a laughter.

"You better get inside, little mouses….there's more than blood in the presents…." A laughter. This guy was crazy, and stupid. Mouses?

It seemed the mystery man was talking through an intercom of some sort.

"We better do as he says, now!" Bree screamed, pointing at something above me. I looked up to see more boxes falling down. And I didn't want to know the contents.

"Run, quick!" I shouted, and I grabbed Bree by her arm, pulling her towards the gate.

"What are you doing? We need to go inside!" she screamed.

"No way! We're not going in there!" I heard another, crazy, laughter.

"Bad choice, little mouse! Very bad….."

I heard the door of the left tower opening. When I turned my head, I saw walkers. Just two of them. They sniffed in the air, and saw me. I was covered in blood, easy target. They came running, and I grabbed my handgun. With two shots, they were both down.

"You're not very clever, are you?" the voice laughed through the speakers. From the left tower came more walkers. I wanted to shoot again, but before I could reload, I saw there were too many of them. I would not stand a chance with one handgun and one hunting rifle in the car.

"Quick! Get inside! NOW!" Aiden shouted. I grabbed Bree by her arm and ran towards the opening of the factory.

"No!" she screamed. "I have to get Yard!"

"There's no time!" I tried to pick her up, but she kicked with her feet in the air. The walkers were getting closer. Bree put two fingers at her mouth and made an high whistle. Yard came running at us. Bree grabbed him by his manes and lead him to the door.

We needed the four of us to open it up, and closed it behind us just in time. I heard the walkers slamming and kicking at the other side.

The place we were in, was dark. Very dark. There was no light. The alarms stopped. The walkers kept punching at the door, but we were safe for now. Aiden was the first to say something.

"Everybody here? Michelle?"

"Yes" she answered, not very far from me.

"James?"

"I'm here."

"Bree?"

"I'm fine. Yard's here too."

"Good for you." He sighed. "Well, we're inside. But we're trapped. Like mice. What do we do? Suggestion, anyone?"

"I've got a nice idea" the voice through the speakers answered.

"Not this guy again" Michelle whispered.

"How about you open your eyes?" With a loud 'click' the lights inside the room turned on. It hurt my eyes, and I blinked a few times before I could see. The hall was long, with at both sides a row with doors. On every door used to be a nameplate, but they seemed to be removed. It reminded me of _Scooby Doo_ , where the team runs for the monster and appears each time from a different door.

Michelle suddenly screamed and hid behind Aiden. She pointed at the roof.

Above us, hung bodies. Corpses, of people. Humans. They were hanging upside down, with their feet in a rope. Their bellies were cut open, and all the organs were removed. You could see the ribs. Between the bones, stood a candle. It was lit. The corpses hung all over the hall, 4 feet from the ground. I noticed they were all bald and they were hung up in a certain pattern. It was man, woman, man, woman. Both were wearing shorts of a white curtain, and the women also wore some kind of top over their breasts.

Michelle threw up on the floor, and Aiden put his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. Bree hid her face in Yard's neck, and Yard himself was panicking. His eyes rolled in his head and he kicked with his feet in the air.

Even me, as a doctor, was having a hard time. This was just…cruel. Not human. What kind of person would do this? I turned around for a second, away from the horrible sight. This was…..unreal.

"And, what do you think of the candles? Nice, aren't they?" the voice laughed at us. "Oh, it's so nice to see people who really enjoy my artwork. Or should I say mouses? What do you prefer?"

I wanted to scream and shout, I wanted to punch somebody. People rising up from the dead was a bad dream, this factory was a nightmare.

"Oh, you won't answer me?" the voice continued. "That's OK. I got some more beautiful artwork for you. And some nice surprises!"

"No! Please! Not again!" Michelle cried.

"Too late, little mouse!" the voice laughed. We heard some more 'clicks', and the doors on both sides of the hall opened. From every door, a walker came running. After two steps outside the door, they were pulled back. I noticed a collar with a chain around their necks, which was attached at something in the rooms where they appeared from.

"Isn't this a nice game, huh? You little mouses want to play, right?" the voice through the speaker hurt my ears. "Let me explain the rules. You make your way to the other side of the room. No, you run. You have to get to the other side. But you have to be quick. Every second you waste, the chains becomes longer. If you wait for too long, my friends will be freed. And you will be trapped, like little…mouses!"

"O, shit!" Aiden whispered. I felt that Bree grabbed my hand and held Yard close to her. She trembled over her whole body, and her eyes were widened. Her cheeks were pale, the usual red colouring was gone.

"Be strong, we can do this" I whispered to her. She looked at me, not sure what to say.

"Just….follow me, OK? And keep Yard close to you."

She nodded and took a deep, trembling breath.

Suddenly the lights went out, and the only the candles lead the way. I could hear the walkers screaming, moaning, trying to get to us. The lunatic laughed through the speakers.

"You have ten seconds before I release them. So, run, little mouses!"

"Fuck! Ten seconds?!" The hall was too long, we would never make it.

"Run, Run!" the man shouted.

"Go, go, go!" Aiden's voice sounded. We started running further into the hall, into the darkness. From right and left, I could feel the breaths and hands pass my body. I held Bree close to me, and talked to her, supporting her to keep running. I heard the chains and the mechanism, clicking and clicking.

"….four…..five…..six..." After every number, the lunatic counted faster. The mechanism kept on clicking and the chains got longer. I heard Michelle scream and Aiden cursed. I did not turn around to see what was going on, I had to get Bree to the other side. I kept on running, not knowing where I was going. It was all dark in front of me, around me, with walkers at both sides.

"…..nine…ten! Time's up, little mouses!" The voice laughed. "Nice to see I still have some to play with! Release the undead!"

Bree and I just bumped into a wall. I searched with my hands for a doorknob, but there was none.

"Little mouses, little mouses, small but tasty…" the voice sang. The mechanisms continued and I could hear the walkers grumble and moan. I heard Michelle scream, and Bree hid her face in Yard's neck, crying of fear.

 _This is it? Really? I figured You had something original for me._

I closed my eyes and started praying. It was my last hope. Sad, but true.

The voice in the speakers laughed. "You're so funny to watch! You should see your faces!"

The mechanisms and the chains started clicking again. Michelle stopped screaming, and I did not know if that was good or bad.

"Wow, you are soooo funny! I want to keep you for a while!" the lunatic shouted. He had pulled back the walkers into back to where they came from. The lights went on again, and I saw Michelle and Aiden in the middle of the hallway, laying on the ground.

"Are you alright?" I shouted.

"Yes, were OK. You?" Aiden sounded normal for a guy who almost got eaten by dead people.

"We're fine."

"Aw, so cute" the voice grinned. "It's not over yet, little mouses. I got much more for you to play with! Isn't that fun? Oh, I'm sorry, you must be very tired. Little mouses are tired. Let me bring you to bed."

I heard a soft sound, as if the shower was turned on. But there was no water, only some kind of smoke.

"Cover your nose and mouth, quick!" I shouted. "Don't breathe!"

"No, Yard!" Bree shouted. She put her small, thin fingers over the nose of the animal. I wanted to stop her, but before I could do something, her eyes rolled away and her body fell on the ground. The big horse fell next to her, neighing in panic.

I heard Michelle and Aiden coughing, and saw them collapse.

I was alone. I held my shirt over my mouth and nose, as I walked over to them. But as soon as I stepped into the hall, one door at both sides opened and the walkers inside tried to reach me with their rotten arms. I stepped back.

"No, bad mouse! Go to sleep!" the lunatic shouted at me. "Go to sleep, or your little mouse friends will be dinner!"

The doors near the bodies of Michelle and Aiden opened, and the walkers could almost scratch them.

"Come on, you stupid mouse!" the voice shouted. I let go of my shirt, and breathe. Through my nose and mouth, letting the spicy smoke into my lungs. My sight turned black, and my feet slipped from the ground. I blinked a few times, and the last thing is saw, was a shadow walking up to me.


	14. Chapter 14:Cheese

**Hello few readers!**

 **Here we are, another Monday! Want to know when I'm uploading and writing? Follow me on Twitter LaurenRoover1. If you have any cool ideas for a fic you can also message me (on here or on there, whichever you prefer) I'd love to write something for AOT or Naruto, or TVD or TO (Maybe even HP...?). Any request welcome!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 14: Cheese_

I laid on a floor. A cold, hard floor. It was dark. There was no light. I tasted the spicy smoke from earlier in my mouth.

 _How long was I out? Where's Bree? Aiden, Michelle? The horse?_

I tried to open my eyes. It didn't matter if they were open or closed, it was dark anyway. I spit on the ground, trying to make the spicy taste go away. With my elbow I tried to sit up. It wasn't easy, my whole body felt heavy and it seemed every muscle had shut down. My head was spinning and my stomach turned upside down.

I coughed and cleared my throat, trying to keep my small dinner from that day inside. I heard footsteps in the dark. I stopped moving and listened. The footsteps were fast, but when they got closer, they slowed down. Every step was slower than the one before. I did not know which direction it came from. Every sound that was made echoed, as if we were in some huge hall.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. There was only the sound of my own breath that filled the room. Out of nowhere, there was this pain in my back. I screamed, and rolled over. Then there was the same kind of pain in my hip.

"Stop! Please!" I shouted, with my body shacking. All of the sudden, two feet jumped on my left hand. I screamed as I felt the small bones in my fingers break. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I tried to get my hand back. I felt the foot moving, pushing my broken hand into the floor. I screamed and shouted and cried, but nothing helped. I kicked around and reached out with my arm, trying to get a hold of the person that was torturing me. After what seemed like hours, the foot was pulled away. I held my hand against my chest, crying of the amount of pain flowing through the bleeding fingers. The only sound to hear, were my cries. After a while, I heard the laughter of him. The lunatic. This time, it wasn't through the speakers.

"Little mouse is in pain. Poor thing. Do your little fingers hurt? My oh my, poor little mouse. You want to go back to your little mouses friends, don't you? Well, it is a pain in the ass to tell you that they're gone."

Silence. What? Was he speaking the truth? Are they dead? Should I believe him?

"Yes, it is sad. Yes, it sure is" the lunatic said, with an enormous amount of sarcasm in his voice. "They peeped like little mouses do, when they got eaten. Poor little mouses. They did not even get the cheese. The tasty, yellow cheese." He laughed, and I heard the footsteps fading away.

They were dead. They were gone. I was alone. Alone in this hellhole. Alone in the dark, beaten and broken. The puppet of a crazy man. In an abandoned factory, full of walkers.

I rolled my body into my own arms, wiping the tears from my cheeks. I wasn't the person to cry, and I wasn't planning to become one. I had to be strong. I had to think. Find a way out of here.

 _Let him use you as his puppet, and get him when he's at his weakest._

I lay there, on the ground, until the lights went on. I blinked, stood up, and held my hand in front of my eyes, trying to protect myself from becoming blind

I looked around, and was shocked by what I saw. I stood in the working place of the factory, with machines everywhere. Cutting mechanisms, ovens, knives, forks, everywhere I looked I saw the set of a bad horror movie. Blood spatters on the walls, pools of blood on the ground, pieces of flesh hanging in the machines, bones spread over the floor.

10/10 if this was a haunted house, I thought. Wait, what? _Haunted._ That was the right word to describe this situation. A haunted house. The lunatic was the maker, and we were the visitors. If he was really the boss of all this, he wouldn't kill off his visitors, right? If this was a real haunted house, he wanted to play with us as long as he could. And that could be, like, forever. Suddenly, a slight feeling of fear filled my chest. The others. They were probably here too. I didn't know for how long I was out, it could've been an hour, or a whole day. I felt so stupid. We should never have come here.

The lunatic laughed through the speakers. "Ready for another round? Little mouse?"

I didn't answer, I just stood there, holding my broken hand and facing the light shining into my eyes.

"How about you look up? Look at your little…cheese!" I looked up, and turned around, trying to find the 'cheese' the lunatic meant. Above a big cutting-machine, hung a big platform. On it lay…..Bree. She was unconscious, but alive. I felt relieved to see her breathing, but she was in great danger. The platform was slowly lowering, hanging at chains. The cutting-machine started spinning and the platform got closer to it.

"Exciting, isn't it?" the lunatic laughed. "You better be quick, before she turns into….what should I call it? Little pieces of flesh, for the barbeque? I think my undead friends would like that very much. And I'll use you salt tears as mayonnaise, very tasty!

Let me explain the rules to you. You have to make your way up there, before the chains

break. That won't be long, so you better be quick. Wait, I'll make it easier for you. The chain will go slower if you sing while saving the girl. The louder you sing, the slower the chains will go. But the song has to be a nice song, a very happy song. _Somewhere, over the rainbow…_ "

The chains started rolling down.

"…. _way up high"_ I screamed. The chains stopped for a moment, but started rolling again as soon as I stopped. Shit, I really had to sing this stupid song. _"There's a land where I dream of…"_ I started running towards the cutting-machine at the other end of the place. How the hell was I supposed to get up there? I looked around, searching for a ladder. I heard the chains started rolling again.

" _once in a lullaby.."_ I ran around, looking in every possible spot. The knives in the machine started spinning harder, and I did not have much time. While I was searching, I tried to remember another happy song, because I did not know the rest of this one.

" _If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands…"_ I sang. I heard the lunatic laughing through the speakers and actually clapping his hands. Finally I had found a ladder. Next to the oven, at the other side of the place. Great. I ran around like a real idiot, while I sang the next line of the song.

" _If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.."_ I picked up the ladder with both hands and started running towards the cutting-machine, placing it against the metal.

" _If you're happy and you know it, and you really want to show it…."_ I was almost at the top. Hang on. Bree, I said to her in my head. I'm almost there.

" _If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."_ That was the end of the song. My brains started spinning, I needed to think of another song. Crap, crap, crap! I was at the top of the ladder, and reached out with my hand, trying to get to Bree. The ladder was too short, the chains started rolling again.

" _I wish you a merry Christmas…"_ It was the first thing that came to mind. I made myself as long as I could, standing on my toes, and I could touch the platform with the top of my middle finger.

" _I wish you a merry Christmas…"_ I sang through my teeth. There was not much room between the platform and the knives. The platform was still too far away for me to reach. With the top of my finger, I gave the platform a little push. It started swinging away from me, and came back. I pushed again, and it swung again. The knives under me were making ugly sounds, which gave me goosebumps.

" _I wish you a merry Christmas…"_ I gave it another push. The platform came close enough to me to touch it with my hand. I had to jump on it, and get Bree out of there.

"… _.and a happy…."_ I prepared myself for the jump. It swung away from me again, and was coming back.

"… _new…"_ I jumped to the swinging platform _"….year!"_

I landed on my knees. The chains started rolling. I tried to think of another song.

" _Somewhere, over the rain…."_

"No! You already sang that one! I want ANOTHER!" the lunatic sounded really pissed, but I didn't know any other happy songs. Sad, actually. Another Christmas song, then?

" _Jingle bells, jingle bells…"_ I picked Bree up and hold her in my arms. What next? How were we supposed to get out of here?

"… _.jingle all the way…"_ I tried to swing the platform back to the ladder. It was our only shot.

" _O, what fun it is to ride…"_ Suddenly, the lunatic started laughing.

"O, poor mouses! You want the cheese, don't you? But you know, when a mouse wants the cheese, most of the times, he doesn't get it. You know why? Because the people make….traps."

 _No, please, no! I finally got her. Please tell me this is it._

"This isn't over yet, little mouses!"

After he said that, the lights went out, and all there was, was darkness. I felt Bree's body in my arms. I hold her close to me and sat down on the platform. The cutting-machine stopped, and the chains hung still. What next?

After a while, I heard that the chains were rolling up. What was he planning to do with us? I couldn't see where we were going, it was too dark. The only sound to hear, were the chains and Bree's soft breath against my chest. I hoped she was OK. What had he done to her?

The chains stopped, and the platform swung back and forth. The lunatic laughed, but this time, it wasn't through the speakers. It seemed like he stood beneath us, next to the cutting machine.

"That's sooooo sweet! Daddy mouse holding baby mouse. Cute, cute, cute! You did quite a good job, papa-mouse. Your friend at the other hand…."

"Aiden?" Was he alive? Did he make it?

"He wasn't so lucky. Neither was his girlfriend. She has a nice voice, by the way. Her screams were quite…beautiful. I bet she was a good singer."

"Michelle…..oh no." He made that do this? And they didn't make it?

But my head was full of doubts. Should I believe him? What if he was lying? He said they were all dead, but Bree was here, in my arms, alive.

"Oh, another thing I wanted to tell you" the lunatic continued. "Some of your other friends came by last night. Two teenagers, and a man and a woman. The teenagers are quite fun to play with. It's just sad they kill of all my walkers. I will have to get new ones. Perhaps I'll go to the small town, I bet they have dozens of them by now."

I heard footsteps, and the voice of the lunatic faded away. It was silent in the room. Bree was still unconscious, but I felt her heart beating. I stared into the dark, trying to think. Abby, Max, Tyler and Miriam were here now, and had walked into the same trap as we did. We were all stuck in this mess, and it seemed we had no chance of escape.

I tried to think of a plan. Maybe I could somehow manipulate the lunatic to set us free. If he was as crazy as he sounded, it shouldn't be too hard.

And besides, I was good at manipulating people. I learned that when I convinced Bob and the others to let me live. I told them I was a doctor and that I could find a cure. I said some random shit from the books I read when I was in med-school, and they believed me. Which was a stupid thing, because if they had already searched for a cure in all of America, why would they think they could find one here, in Runem, one of the smallest countries in the world?

It's been a month since the outbreak in Runem, and two months since the outbreak in the U.S. Since we stopped getting messages and broadcasting from there, the military and homeland security started organising an emergency-plan. That's why the evacuation was so quick. But it doesn't matter now. The main camp had already fallen, now there were only three more military bases in all of Runem. Small ones, and if the biggest is already gone, the others would follow soon.


	15. Chapter 15: Spying

**Aaaah, another Monday, a new chapter to this crappy story.**

 **(Disclaimer: If TWD was mine it would air episodes throughout the year and till infinity, but it doesn't. There's your proof)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 15: Spying_

"James! James! Wake up, please!" A voice from far away cried out my name. I felt someone pulling at my arm. I opened my eyes, and looked into two familiar faces.

"O, thank god you're alive!" Bree swung her arms around my neck.

"What? What is it? Where am I?" That was the only thing I could think of. I pushed myself up with my elbow on the cold, hard floor. Bree let go of me and smiled. Someone else pat me on the shoulder. I turned my head and saw Aiden. He had a big wound on the right side of his forehead and his face was full of dried up blood, but he was glad to see me.

"Go to see your eyes open, man."

I thanked him and looked around. The room we were in, seemed like an old office, but without furniture. The walls and the floor had the same grey colour as the rest of the factory, but the door was different. It was a wooden door, handmade, new. Strange.

The only light in the room was coming from a lamp above us, and I could see the two faces of my friends. But there was a problem. There were only two.

"Where's Michelle?" I asked, and for some reason I was scared to ask. Aiden's smile faded away, and he turned his back to me. He bowed his head in shame.

"Is she…."

Bree nodded as an answer, and tears filled her eyes.

"O shit" I said. I wanted to say more, but for something like this…there are no good words to describe it. There are no words. Michelle was dead. She was gone. I bowed my head and put my hand over my eyes. "How did she…?"

"She got bit" Aiden said, his voice trembling. "In the hall with the candles. I managed to save her from the cutting-machine, but she was already dead. She turned…in my arms." He stopped, took a quick breath, closing his eyes. "I had to….I've…I did….I had no choice." He opened his eyes and slammed his fist onto the floor.

"God, she didn't deserve this!" he shouted. He jumped up, dashing towards the door. With a scream of madness he let his fists come down on the wood.

I sat back and leaned against the wall. Aiden was right, she didn't deserve to die. She was so young, and had so much to live for.

Why didn't they take me?

I've done some much horrible things in my life. I told lies, I tortured people, I killed, I manipulated, I….there were so much bad things I did. Why was I still alive?

Aiden's fists were now bleeding, but he wouldn't stop. Bree lay on the floor, her hands over her ears, crying. I put my hand on her arm, trying to calm her down a bit.

This was….horrible. We were trapped in the one place we thought was the safest to be. Suddenly, the dead coming back to live to eat the living wasn't the biggest problem anymore. The real danger was the changes they made. They made the government fall apart, turned villagers into monsters, created a world where there's no time for rest. This world had become a survival of the fittest. Then, again, I asked myself; why was I still alive?

Aiden stopped fighting the door, and collapsed after what seemed like hours. His knuckles were bleeding stumps. Bree had fallen asleep, still holding her hands over her ears. While the hours had gone by, I did some searching in this small office. And I was proud with what I found.

In the left corner next to the door, there was a small hole. Every 15 minutes, a small camera appeared. I wondered why the others hadn't noticed this yet, but I forgot it as soon as I thought about it. I decided to take a closer look. So I stood still, a little before the hole, counting the minutes in my head, and waited. 5 minutes to go. 300 seconds. 299, 298, 297…

Finally, the small camera appeared and I looked straight into the lens. I waved, putting a sarcastic smile on my face.

"Hello! How are you doing?"

It seemed I scared him, because the camera suddenly went back into the hole.

"What was that?" Aiden asked, staring at the left corner. "Is he spying on us?"

"Yeah, the whole time, actually. Every fifteen minutes he appears, and stays for like, 5 minutes, and disappears again."

Aiden stood up, madness burning in his eyes. I could already smell his intentions.

"Don't. Let me do the talking, OK?"

"Like you always do? Nuh-uh. It's because of you we're trapped in here."

"That's not true, you know that. Listen, I know how I can get to him. We gotta find out what happened to the others."

"The others?" Aiden asked, and the fire in his eyes vanished. "You mean Abby? Tyler, and Miriam?"

"And the other kid. They're here, he told me. He said…." I wasn't sure if I should tell him or not. "…he said they were dead too, but he said the same about you. So I don't know if I can believe him."

Aiden nodded, a little calmed down. "OK. You're right. But how do you think you can make him tell us what happened to them?"

"Well, if you shut your mouth and let me talk to him, that would be a start."

I saw his jaws moving, as he was keeping his anger in. I just stood there, like I always do when the man I talk to reacted like this. And trust me; I've seen a whole lot of them.

From the inside, my heart was beating in my throat, and my hands were shaking. I could barely stand on my own feet and my stomach was turning upside down. I was so scared I wanted to run away, but I never did.

I kept pushing myself to stand where I stood, poker-face, looking the person in the eyes.

Aiden turned around and sat down, next to Bree. I finally found the courage to breathe again. My heartbeat went back to a normal tempo. My hands were still shaking, but my stomach was calm. Thank god.

I turned around and glanced at the hole in the corner of the room. I kept a straight face, as I cleared my throat.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear this." Not very threatening, but was a start. "Listen to me. I know what you're doing. I know what game you're playing." Every word that left my mouth came with power and perfect articulation, afraid he may not understand me.

"We're your puppets, and this place is your own playhouse. You like to see us suffer. You want us to suffer. You have a lot of tasks for us to do, and we'll gladly do them. Not for you, but for ourselves." While I was speaking, I saw the lens of the camera in the hole. It hadn't come out yet, but I got his attention. Good.

"The only thing you do, is sit in a room, watching us play a game of lifes. You don't like getting your hands dirty, do you?" I was afraid I had offended him and that he would go away, but he stayed. Instead, the lens turned a little, as if adjusting its zoom.

"I'd like to make a deal. You told me you needed more walkers to play with, because our friends had killed them off. If we go and get them for you, you show us what happened to our friends."

My heartbeat raised again. I hoped we weren't asking too much. Knowing if they're alive or dead would be enough. _For now._

The courage I had faded away as I watched the lens disappear. I closed my eyes and cursed. Maybe I only made it worse. What would the next thing be he'd made us do?

Suddenly, Aiden grabbed my shoulders and threw me against the wall. "Nice job, mister _Menthis!_ You got us into the real shit now!"

A slight pain crossed my chest when he called me by my secret name. That was the name I used when I was in Bob's gang.

"Maybe he's just considering the offer! Have you thought about that?"

I saw the hesitation in his eyes, and he loosened the grip on my shoulders. From the corner of my eye, I saw Bree was awake.

"Is everything alright? How long was I out?" she asked, her voice full of sleep.

"Just for an hour. You didn't miss anything." Aiden spat. But I wasn't scared for him anymore. I suddenly realized that this stupid twenty-year-old couldn't harm me. I was at least ten years older, taller, and more experienced. I had seen things he couldn't even imagine. What was I worried about?

I heard a sound coming from the hole in the corner. The camera had appeared. And not only that, I could see a little speaker behind it, so he was going to talk to us.

"I've considered your offer. I want to cooperate, but only on my terms."

I got to him. He fell for it. I wanted to turn around to see the look on Aiden's face, but I contained myself.

"I keep your mouse-friends hostage, in case you don't come back. If that happens, I'll kill them. If you do come back, I will show you what happened to them."

My brain worked really hard to understand his words. He said it in a way I could not figure out if the others were still alive or not.

"I can see you're thinking. Are the little mouses alive, or are they mouses soup? Only one way to find out." He laughed his evil, irritating, laugh, but was not done yet.

"I'll open the door, and you'll follow the yellow arrows on the wall. These lead to the exit, the courtyard where you met my undead friends the other day. There stands a big van, you'll drive it to the town and put all the walkers in the back. Understood?"

"Yes, sir" I replied.

"Good. You'll be back before sunset. Now, off you go, little mouses. On an adventure!"

There was a loud 'click', and the door was unlocked. We were free. For now.


	16. Chapter 16: Think

**Hello few readers!**

 **New chapter up, yay! I still have one more in my archive, which means starting with chapter 18 I'll have to write new ones...and maybe finally make this a good story.**

 **But for now you'll have to make due with two crappy ones. Improvement is on the way!**

 **(Disclaimer; I don't own The Walking Dead. I do have a YT channel: channel/UC4M854VH5JEFLQjQD2fYL8w)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 16: Think_

I kneeled down, carefully touching the footprint. Aiden had been here, I recognized the pattern of his sneakers. There were some different tracks as well, one was probably Michelle's, followed by a man, probably around my height, and a teenager, and a…horse.

My heart made a little jump at the thought of the girl being Abby, but then I realized she doesn't wear clappers. It's someone else. The tracks were about…three weeks old, I think. The ground was dry, it hadn't rained all summer. With no broadcasts, I didn't know when the first time would be. Not too soon though, I needed the tracks. It would be a shame if they were washed away by the water.

I stood up and looked over the fields. I made an attempt on going to Distance, but it was too dangerous. There were too many walkers in the streets, and snipers on the roof. If I tried to get into the camp, I could choose two different deaths. Considering, I'd prefer the sniper.

The tracks of the teen went further into the horse's, meaning he/she probably jumped on its back, and the others disappeared. At the spot there were tire tracks, which means they'd gotten into a car. I followed the trails for a while, and I figured they were going to the….factory.

"Shit." This wasn't good. Not good at all. While I was prisoned, I overheard a conversation between the person whom I assumed was the leader and his lieutenant. About transporting us to the factory, that there was someone there who could 'take care' of us. The leader said there was a crazy man that talked to the walkers and made a haunted house out of the factory. It would be the perfect place for the torturing.

Who knows what happened to my family and friends if they really went that direction.

With my heart bumping in my throat, I went on my way. The red sunrise surrounded the factory, which seemed to be perfectly chosen. I was on my way to hell, it seemed. Or Mordor. Or something like that.

The factory was like a little spot for me, and I still had a long way to go. During this long walk, I had enough time to think about everything that happened these past two months.

I was just promoted to sergeant and got the order to lead the team that was going to evacuate a small town. I knew Outside, I'd been there a couple times when I was younger. It was a nice neighbourhood as I remember it, but it had changed over the years. The town had become a hole full of crime, murder, thefts and drugs. The few good people that still lived there were scared and moved away. When the number of crimes climbed too high, the government made a plan. They were going to rebuilt every building in Outside, cheap buildings were employees of the Centre could live. The plan didn't work out that well, but the number of crimes was decreased.

Me and my family lived in a bit outside the Centre, Abby and I went to school there and my parents both worked. My dad disappeared one night, just a normal evening in the week. A Wednesday, I think. He went out to get some money of the bank, but never came back. This changed our family forever. The police searched for two months, but no luck. My mom got in a depression and Abby had only me. I was fourteen and she was six. I was the only one who could take care of her. I had to play as an adult and take care of a child, when I still a kid myself. I never forgave my mom for that.

At some point, I had enough of it all, and called for help. My mom went in therapy for 4 months, and then she finally started working again. She still had a hard time with taking care of little Abby, but she managed. I could finally focus on school again, and everything seemed to turn back to normal. But then everything changed, again. One day, I came home from school, and found my mom sitting at the kitchen table with this strange man. He had a friendly face, but his eyes were cold. He had a charming smile, but his eyes had that same, cold state.

My mom introduced him as Philip, her…boyfriend. He was having dinner with us. He held out his hand, and I shook it. I just did, for mom. I saw how she looked at him, and she finally seemed happy. Her smile was honest and real, for a change. I was not planning on ruining that. She asked me to go upstairs, and check on my sister, so they could talk.

After a month, Philip moved in. I barely spoke to the man, and he didn't make any attempts to speak with me. He was going to be my stepdad, my mom told us during dinner. I was fifteen, in the middle puberty. All I did was fake a smile and nod. My mom kissed Philip on his cheek, and they only talked to each other, the rest of the evening.

Philip had a normal job, he worked at a company that sold washing machines, and all he did was sit behind a desk and do paperwork. He worked from 8 till 5, so he was home at 5.30. I was happy with that, I never saw him when I got home and when I got downstairs in the morning, he just stepped out the door. In the weekends, I hung out with friends. I only saw him at dinner.

But one day he was there when I got home from school. He asked me to sit down, that we would have a little chat. He started with normal things, how was school, you got lots of homework, have you seen this game, and bla bla bla. After one hour I stood up. I told him that he needed to stop playing.

His eyes were even more terrifying when he was not smiling. He said he was trying his best to make this a normal family, and that I needed to stop being the lazy teenager. I told him that was not true, and that he could go fuck himself. After that, I went to my room.

Yup, that was our first argument. The second came that evening, at dinner. And many after that.

Every time, the fights got worse. One time I thought he was going to hit me. But he didn't but just kept on shouting. I didn't shout, I never did. Not with Abby in the room. She was seven years old, and she always cried when she saw me mad. So I always kept it in, just a little. For her.

I sighted. I felt guilty if I thought back to that. You could say it was because of me Abby had a rough childhood. I was the one that started, but Philip always said the things that made you pissed and wanna scream. But I didn't, not until I was eighteen. I was at the end of high school and a lot bigger than Philip. We had an argument, again, and this time, Philip slapped me in the face. I pushed him against the wall, and held my fist in the air. I was going to hit him so hard, but something stopped me.

I heard crying.

Abby.

I let go of Philip, and ran to the hall. Around the corner, next to the door, she sat. She held her hands over her ears and her head against her knees. I took my 10 year old sister in my arms and told her it was going to be alright. I brought her to bed, and packed my stuff. I was leaving. I had enough of this. I was only scaring my sister. She was the only reason I stayed, because my mom was only thinking about herself and Philip. But I know Abby would manage.

I left her a letter, and left. I hadn't seen her in five years. Well, I did see her once. I saw her when she was shopping with her friends. I sat in a café, had a day off. I didn't want to go back home, but I needed to see how my little sister was doing. I was proud of her, seeing her so confident, just joking around like always. I never told her that. I never had the chance. I was only with her for two days, before we got separated. But I knew, that the next time I was going to see her, I would never leave her again. Not this time.

Back to the beginning of all this. This 'Apocalypse', as some men like to call it. I was sergeant and I led this team that would evacuate the biggest buildings in the town; the flat with the cheap apartments. We got straight instructions about the monsters. If someone got bit or scratched, he/she needed to be executed immediately.

Sadly, I had to kill an old women in the flat. She got bit in her shoulder. I shot the walker and her in one shot.

After that, we took all the people out of the building, to the supermarket. From there, we were supposed to take them to the train station nearby. God seemed to be testing me again, because my boss ordered me to get out of there, told me Outside was lost. But I was not about to give up. I sent my men away, and helped the people to the train station, but got myself in the shit. I ended up surrounded by walkers, standing on the roof of a school bus. My only hope was Caesar and Aiden, two men who both lived in the flat. They got me out of there, but we got all the walkers on our asses. We drove as far away as possible, till we finally lost them. We stopped at a gas station, and we somehow just chose the right one. Abby was there. She came with us.

We filled the tank of the car and drove back, to the train station. There, we almost got ourselves killed. We got stuck between a herd of walkers, and the train that was coming. Some kind of assassin-family saved us, and asked if we would join them. They were on their way to Distance too, but we declined. Abby was really pissed about that, and I suddenly think about that family again. How were they doing now? Were they still alive?

After the train station, we got back in the car and drove to Distance, where we finally made it to the military base. The admiral was there, and complimented me on my decisions. Abby and I found our mother there, and it was so awkward to see her after all those years.

It's one of the last things I remembered before I got kidnapped.

I remembered all sergeants were called to the admiral's tent for some kind of meeting. I went there, and after that, there's a hole in my memory. A black hole, with nothing. Next, I wake up with my eyes blinded and my arms handcuffed to a metal pole or something. Then the screams of my fellow soldiers, the news of the admiral's death, the torture…

I stand still, in the middle of the road. My head hurts when I think back of that. I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

 _Think about something else, something happy._

At that moment, in the middle of nowhere, with only myself, I couldn't think of anything . There's too much cruelness in this world. The dead become living, people start attacking each other for a save camp and supplies, and The Lunatic has captured all my friends and family.

The Lunatic. He sounds like some kind of demon, after all I've heard about him. He had rebuilt the old factory into a torture house. He made films of them, and watched them. He also held walkers, like they were pets, and talked to them and used them in his tortures.

I can't wait to get him into my hands, and squeeze his throat till his eyes pop out.

I open my eyes again, and start walking. Just a few steps, and I'm at the big gate of the factory. One small step to my sister. If I had found Aiden, he could tell me where she was. Then we can just form a group, and find our own place to hide from the undead.

And the living.

Don't forget the living.


	17. Chapter 17: Strange Encounter

**Aloha!**

 **Just wanna wish you guys a Merry Christmas! Eat loads and get fat like me!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 17: Strange encounter_

I stared at the building behind the fences. It looked abandoned, but I knew it wasn't. I took a few steps closer towards it, and I heard them.

Moans, grumbles, footsteps, jaws. Walkers. On my way here, I'd only come across a few. And I killed them.

It sounds easy when I say it like that. But it's not like that. Not at all. Every time you kill one of them, you feel miserable. The thing you killed once was a human being. A normal person, just like myself. But when it becomes a danger to you, you've got no choice. You have to fight, and kill. But how do you kill?

After some years in the army, I've learned the trick.

You have to stop thinking. You can't kill if you think about killing. You've got to empty your mind, and just do it. You can hate yourself afterwards, but in the moment you just turn it off.

I sighed and stepped back from the walls. They were thick and about three metres high, and another meter of fences on top of it. You couldn't see what's on the other side. How was I supposed to get in?

"Damn it…" I kicked a stone away from my foot. What was I supposed to do? I'd finally made it, and there wasn't anything I could do. I was stuck.

Turning my back to the building I stared at the horizon. I saw the town, Distance.

The town and this factory. There was something going on between these two places. Some kind of….I don't know.

I decided to keep watch over the factory. Perhaps one of these days someone comes to deliver stuff.

I picked up my bag and went to look for a safe place to hide, just to be sure. There were some big rocks at the left. No, that would be too dangerous. Too close.

There were some trees, a few feet away from the walls, I could climb up in there…? But wasn't that too far?

I kinda got frustrated about this. There was nothing in this middle of nowhere.

A memory of my time as a recruit flashed before my eyes. I was just about two months in training. We got a test, a so called stealth-mission. We had to attack a patrol which was returning to base. We as newbies failed spectacularly. Later, our sergeant explained.

"See the base? That's the most dangerous place to be in this desert. The van is loaded with weapons, and we had to prevent that for getting in. Why do we stop them here? Why couldn't we do that when they were still on the road? Because they never suspect us at their own home. Their safest location. We want to take this van from them, but where do we come from? They're not supposed to see us, we have to come out of nowhere. Where do we hide in this God forgotten place? As I said before, the base is the most dangerous place for us to be. You better hide here. The greater the danger for us, the smaller the chance of suspicion at the enemy's side. Understood?"

The factory was the most dangerous place, so I had to get close to it. At the right, there was this small side building. It was far away from the gates, but my best shot.

I waited the whole day for something to happen. And another. And another. 24/7 I had to listen to the walkers behind the walls. They didn't know I was here, and I was curious what would happen when the van passed through.

I had an agenda with me, to keep the days. It was the 28th of August, a Tuesday, but it was still a sauna out here. It was cold at night, and I hadn't chosen the most comfortable spot.

Finally, on Wednesday, there came a van, loaded with walkers. I decided just to watch all their moves and take notes before operating. I lay on the ground, and peeked around the corner. Inside the factory I heard alarms go off and the walkers screamed and moaned as a response. Doors opened, and the sounds faded. After that, I heard the chains of the gate cut loose and open. The van drove through and I ran to the gates to get a quick look at who was working on the inside.

He had a big wound on his head, his clothes were dirty and he looked pale. He didn't see me, he was too busy getting the chains back on. It was Aiden.

I heard the men get out of the van and they shouted "Weekly delivery!"

Stumbling over my own feet I made my way back to my bird's nest. I think my mouth was open the entire time I sat there, too shocked to close it.

Was Abby here too?

Lost in thoughts, I didn't hear him coming. A hand appeared and locked itself over my mouth, two arms wrapped themselves around my upper body and pulled me alongside the walls, around the corner. I had no eyes on the gates any longer.

I grabbed the stranger by his shoulders and pulled him over my head. He collapsed to the ground on his back, and all the air was pushed from his lungs. I quickly grabbed my machete and held it in front of him. The stranger tried to breathe, and cleared his throat.

"Don't!" he whispered. "Wait until they're inside!"

He did have a point, but immediately after I heard the shackling of chains I lifted the stranger by his shoulders.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm…I'm…Hugo. The man inside the factory has my wife. Please, let me go!"

"Shut up!" I spit the words in his face, but I let go of his shoulders.

"What do you know about him?" I wasn't done yet. I held the machete close to me.

"I know he talks to the walkers, and he tortures people." The man sounded scared. He looked innocent, but I didn't trust him.

"How long have you been here?"

"Ten minutes, maybe longer."

"Why did you attack me?"

"I thought I was going to scare you if I just…I don't know, patted you on the shoulder. If I did, they would hear us and my Josie would be lost inside forever."

"Josie? Your wife?"

"Yes. Are you in the army?"

"I ask the questions. How do you know she's inside?"

"I saw her, she was helping those men in the van the other day. They come with a delivery every Wednesday. I've watched them for a while longer than you."

"You just told me you were here only for ten minutes. You've been here before?"

"Yes, I have a camp just about a mile from here. I come back every Wednesday to see if I can get inside."

His story was too….I don't know. It wasn't…..logical. Why hadn't he thought of a way in before?

"How long?"

"Three weeks." He had three times to take over one of those vans. "I couldn't beat them on my own" he suddenly said, as if he read my mind. I observed him. He was wearing a blue spencer with a grey blouse under it, a brown pants and black shoes. He was dressed way too warm for this type of weather.

"What are you doing here?" he suddenly asked me. I held up the machete, and didn't want to answer, but it's been too long since I've talked to someone else than myself.

"He probably has my sister and mother too. And a couple of friends. I saw them, on the courtyard, just yet."

"I'm sorry to hear that." If he was a liar, he was a pretty good one. It really seemed like he felt sorry for me. "We could…work together. Take this factory down, get rid of that sick man." He looked at me, begging. I still didn't trust him. This "Hugo" seemed too clean and fresh to be staying out here for three weeks. But if he had he knew much more about these deliveries than I did. He could be useful.

But if he'd start to become a problem, I'd have to take him out.

"OK. We'll team up." I held out my hand, and Hugo shook it, still a bit scared. "Name's Keith."

Nice to meet you, Keith." What a goody-goody. It wouldn't surprise me if he told me he was going to the church twice a week. Not that there's something wrong with that.

"Shall I show you my camp?" he asked, pointing in the opposite direction of the factory.

"Sure. We could work out a plan there."

"Good idea. Follow me!"

I just played along, to see what would happen. I decided to keep my machete close to me when I was going to sleep. Maybe I wouldn't sleep at all that night. You never know what kind of people are wandering around in this new world. I just listened to what he had to say and get all the info about the factory he had.

His camp was only one tent, a small fire, and table. There were no chairs. Only pillows. Good enough for me.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Sure. You got anything else than beans?"

"Well, yes, I do. I got some…bacon?"

"Bacon! That's…new." How did he…?

"You want some? I can roster it above the fire if you want."

"That would be….nice."

Bacon for dinner. I talked with Hugo about this and that, and was still not sure if he was telling the truth or not. If he was, he had a really good life before all this.

He'd been on a road trip with his wife, but got blocked on the highway because of the walkers. They ended up here with their camping stuff. His wife disappeared a few weeks ago, and he found out where she was.

If he was lying, he was very smart. And a good actor.

I slept on the ground, which was a lot more comfortable without the constant moans, footsteps, and grumbles of the undead behind the wall.


	18. Chapter 18: Walk or Die

**Heyo!**

 **Hope you all had a good Christmas! But don't start working out yet, because New Year's is on its way. We'll start going to the gym next year again...**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of the Walking Dead)**

 **Enoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 18: Walk or die_

I had told myself to stay up that night. I failed, of course. But I woke up the next morning, alive. Hugo was already making breakfast, and wished me good morning.

"Mornin'" I answered with a sleepy voice. I sat up, and wiped all the dirt of my clothes.

"Slept well?" Hugo asked, with a fake smile.

"I've had worse nights." I wasn't really in the mood to talk right now. I wanted to make plans. I wanted action. I wanted straight to business.

"Any trouble with the undead?" I asked. Hugo shook his head.

"Do you like eggs?"

"Where did all the walkers go? I didn't see any of them here."

"They're all in the factory" Hugo answered. "The people in Distance catch them for him. In exchange, he leaves them alone. It's a like a…contract. They're kind of working together."

"I see." How the hell did he know that? I didn't ask about it, I just wondered. It just made me doubt him more. "Do you have a map?"

"Yes, yes I do. I get it for you after breakfast." He sat down and out his omelette on his plate. "You want too?"

"Yeah, sure." I took the plate and ate the omelette just from the plate. This wasn't a fucking restaurant, so I didn't bother to use a knife or fork. Hugo didn't look at me, and we ate in silence.

I spread the map out on the ground. It was an old one, from about ten years ago, but still useful. Distance and the factory were both on it, and that was what mattered.

"So we are….here, I think." I pointed at a place on the map close to the factory.

"That's right. And Distance is here." Hugo acted like I couldn't read maps. I just ignored it, for now.

"Yes, and the people from Distance take this route to the factory for the….delivery." It was strange to talk about it that way. They were carrying deadly dead monsters.

"And they stop in front of the gate." Couldn't that idiot say anything I didn't know already.

"That's where we need to take it over. How do we do that?" Now was your chance to surprise me, Hugo.

"I think we have no choice than to kill them. Immediately, without making a sound. We can't let them live, they could alarm the others. We kill them, and take their suits. They're always wearing some kind of armour to protect them from the walkers, and if we take that too, we got a bigger chance of getting inside."

I admit it, I was surprised. He was smarter and sneakier than I thought. "OK, sounds like a plan. But how do we kill them, without making a sound?"

"We can strangle them." Man, that was rude.

"No, that takes too long. And don't they carry weapons?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"If we strangle them, we give them time to fire their guns. If we do that, it will alarm every living and dead thing in the whole area. We can't take that risk."

"We could…cut their throats?"

"We need knives for that. I got a pocket knife, and my machete. The pocket knife isn't sharp enough, and the machete is too big to make a slight cut."

"I only got dinner knifes. Couldn't we sharp them up?"

"You got anything for that?" I wanted to trust this guy, but if he had something to sharpen a knife with….

"No, I don't. Sadly."

I put my hand over my eyes, and tried to think. How could you assassinate someone in armour, in a van with walkers in the back?

"Do you have a gun?"

"A small handgun, yes." That didn't surprise me. You never know what comes to you on a road trip through Runem.

After a week of preparations, we were ready. Yes, it took us an entire week, which didn't fit well with me at all. All I wanted was to just climb over the walls myself and drag Abby outta there.

But we had no idea what or who we were up against, so all we could do was stay in the shadows, waiting, gathering, sorting. I'd always hated stealth missions, and this was even worse.

But finally our time arrived. From my hiding spot I watched the van drive up to the gates. The windows were dark, so I could only guess the positions of the people inside.

I heard the chains ramble as Aiden removed them carefully. Turning my head I made a hand sign in the direction Hugo was supposed to be. We had about thirty seconds before the van would disappear.

Jumping up from behind a rock, I crawled over to the side of the van. Aiden was almost finished prepping the gates, and I had to assume he hadn't spotted me yet. Sneaking alongside the van I made my way to the driver's seat. I stayed low, so the driver wouldn't spot me in any of the rear view mirrors. It was a tiny detail which could influence the outcome of the mission if handled wrong. I heard a soft click, and couldn't help but grin.

From Hugo's observations, I'd learned that the driver had the tendency to unlock the doors just before entering the factory, which was all in our favour.

Before he could kick the gas pedal, I dashed forward and pulled the door open.

"Get out!" I said with a demanding tone, holding Hugo's handgun in front of me. The two men turned their heads, and when they noticed the tube of the gun in their faces, the both of them held up their hands.

"Get OUT!" I said, louder now. The men seemed both about forty years old, and of good health. They must've been farmers before the outbreak.

But at that moment, they were my enemies.

"Do as he says" the driver said, as he started crouching towards the opening. The other guy nodded.

"Faster!" I said, pushing the gun almost in the guy's face. We didn't have time to be all nice and chatty. It almost seemed like they wanted to waste it.

"Hey now" the man said nervously. "We're all people here. No need for guns."

"Y-yeah" the other guy added. "And we ain't hurting anybody."

I took a step forward. "Cut the crap and just get out."

The two men looked at each other for a second, and I almost thought they'd try to overrule me, but they seemed to change their minds and just listen.

The gate was almost open, so I signed to Hugo to come over while I got behind the wheel, still aiming the gun at the two idiot farmers.

The gun wasn't even loaded.

"And don't you dare alarm anyone about this" I hissed to them. They nodded quickly, and I suddenly wondered why I waited so long just to steal a van from a duo of retards. Either Hugo had made a mistake while watching and making notes during his observations, or he'd purposely slowed down the entire plan.

My distrust towards the man hadn't disappeared, even after being around him for a couple of days. Maybe it had even grown. I always noticed uneasiness inside of me in his presence. He was hiding something, but I didn't have the time nor concentration to investigate it thoroughly.

As he got into the passenger's seat, I kicked the gas pedal. With one arm hanging out of the window, I tried to look as casual as possible. Who knew where the cameras could be hiding.

We'd made sure most of the cameras around the walls were out of service for the time being. There weren't a lot to begin with.

If there were, I would've been killed upon arriving at the factory.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Aiden walking up to the window. I kept the handgun out of sight.

When he recognized me, his eyes almost seemed to pop out of his head. His jaw dropped and it looked like he was about to scream. To shush him I placed my index finger against my lips, as a gesture he needed to shut the fuck up.

He nodded unnoticeably, which told me there were indeed cameras around. With his eyes, he pointed to the left. I winked. Not a wink I'd give a girl, but one you give to a small child when only you two know something the others in the room don't.

Aiden walked up to the main entrance of the factory, where a lot of growling and moaning echoed. I suddenly noticed how quiet the back of the van actually was.

I froze, turning my head slightly. There were no growls, no fists banging against the sides or nails scraping alongside the aluminium. This van was empty.

Did we steal the wrong one?

"Ah" Hugo suddenly said. For some reason, he was nodding.

Aiden was already working on opening the doors, not aware of what was happening over here.

"What?" I asked, as casual as possible. Something was off, and I had the feeling Hugo was somehow involved with it.

He kept nodding, and let out a dramatic sigh, almost sarcastic. "So you've figured it out?"

Aiden turned towards me, holding up his thumb as a sign I could drive through.

"Figured out what?"

Hugo threw his head back and let out a laughter. An insane, high pitched laughter which didn't correspond with his speaking voice. "Oh Keith, such a comedian!"

I kicked the gas pedal again. "What's so funny?"

He let out a laugh again, and was slapping his knee. This was the funniest thing he'd ever seen, I supposed. "Quit playing dumb, will you? You know who I am!"

I stayed focused on the path before us. I drove into the main hall, where the only light came from the outside. Meaning we'd be stuck in total darkness if the doors were shut.

"Who you are? Probably." I'd put the handgun in my lap earlier, and it still lay there. I'd grab my chances once the darkness would wrap all around us. Loading the weapon would be a pain, but I could feel the bullets in the chest pocket of my jacket.

"Lemme guess" I said, as the van came to a halt. We were now in the middle of a dark space, and I wasn't at all curious what was hiding in the shadows. "No wife? No road trip?"

Hugo, or whatever his name was, let out another deep sigh. "A wife. Can you imagine? So much drama and sadness. And a road trip…who'd want to drive around a hell hole like this?"

It almost sounded like he was judging me for believing his silly story. I can't really blame myself. After hearing the dead came back to life I didn't know what to believe anymore.

The doors were still open, and I still had my hands on the wheel. Moving didn't seem like the best option here. I had to wait for the darkness to come.

"Listen, Keith" Hugo said after a while, and his voice almost sounded like the man I met a week ago. "Why don't we take a walk? I'll show you around, we'll have a little chat, eat something and maybe even discuss your and my terms and conditions considering your….situation."

I kept staring at the front, where darkness was waiting. I swore I heard growling and moaning coming from here, but looking around I didn't see a single walker. Was I imagining it?

"I'm only offering you this once" Hugo continued when I didn't respond. "It has its expiring date, which is in about ten seconds. So decide; walk with me, or die."


	19. Chapter 19: Face of Death

**Happy New Years!**

 **Sorry for the delay, there's something called life that's really annoying and tries to get in the way of everything with his buddy school.**

 **But here it is!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 19: Face of Death_

I hoped it was all just a bad dream. That I was just save back in camp, reunited with my mom and little sister.

No, farther back. Before I joined the army. Before Philip. Before dad was gone.

It's stupid to get yourself caught up in those memories. It makes you crazy wanting to get those times back. We sometimes just wish to be a McFly.

Now especially.

Hugo, or whatever his name was, had let me to a room with several screens. It was like a control room with several cameras placed all over the building. On every screen another place inside the factory was shown.

But there was one screen in particular which caught my eye. As soon as I noticed I leaned forward, almost pushing my nose against it. It was Abby.

"What did you do?" I asked, almost a whisper. Either to him or myself. Maybe both.

I turned around, to Hugo, who was closing the door behind him. "What did you do?!"

He chuckled with a weird, high pitched voice. " _I_ did nothing. She made all those cuts herself. She just wasn't careful-" I stepped towards him, and he giggled. "Now, now. Don't do anything rash, big brother."

"Shut up" I grumbled, as I was really resisting the urge to punch him in his stupid face. "Where is this?"

I pointed at the screen that showed Abby, who sat on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around it and her head lowered. She looked miserable, and I wanted nothing more than to let her know I was here. But there was no way of communicating from here. There was no intercom or anything.

Hugo shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure. This place is like a maze, you know?"

"Tell me. Now."

The intention was to make it sound demanding, but it felt more like desperation. Hugo heard it too. A grin appeared around his mouth.

"Well, ok. I will tell you."

I frowned. This was too easy. What was he on about?

"But…." Ah, there it was. "…that would be no fun for me. So how about we make this more….interesting, for the both of us?"

"How about you just quit this bullshit and give me my sister back?"

Hugo's grin got even wider. "Just your sister?"

"And the others too" I added quickly. But he'd already seen through it. Hugo narrowed his eyes, and nodded slowly.

"I see, I see…" Without flinching, he walked past me, towards the several screens on the wall. He sat down at the desk, and sighed. "Now, what would be fun?"

This guy was insane. He was insane.

I stood there alone with him in a room. He had his back turned on me. I had no weapons to my disposal, but with a little improvising I could choke him to death.

The thought of killing this bastard became a plan in my head. I bowed my head, looked at my hands. Could I really do it? I'd have to hold him still for a couple minutes. Physically, it wouldn't be much trouble. He was shorter and had less flesh on his bones.

"It seems" Hugo suddenly continued, before I could take a step. He turned the chair around. I had now lost the element of surprise "your beloved sister is somewhere in the basement. But….how tragic, there is a bomb placed just above her room. If it were to explode, the whole roof would come down on top of her. How tragic."

That's it, a voice in my head sounded. I grabbed this guy by his stupid shirt and pulled him up. The words I spoke spat in his face and my eyes pierced holes in his mind.

"Cut the shit. Where is she?"

Still, there was no fear in the man's eyes whatsoever. None. He was amused.

"How human!" he shouted. "So human!"

I wrapped my hand around his neck. I would choke this man. I would kill this man.

His face slowly reddened. His eyes seemed to pop out of his head. He tried to wheeze through it, but I had his throat trapped in my fingers.

But through it all, he kept smiling.

My mind was empty. All I thought about was that my fingers were getting sore, but I had to keep squeezing, because I had to. I just stared at the ugly face as the light died out.

His limbs moved around spastically. Then they just hung.

The wheezing quit, and after a sigh everything went silent.

At first, I didn't notice. I just kept staring at the bastard that hurt my sister. He stared at me, blood rolling down his face from the corners of his eyes. His mouth was open, as if he still tried to either laugh or scream. Drops of sweet glimmered in the light coming off the screens of the security cameras.

I slowly released my fingers. With a deadly thud the corpse hit the ground. I gave it a last kick, away from the chair.

I sat down myself, and tried not to get too distracted by the fact that I looked a human in the eyes as I choked the life out of him. I'd never done that before.

The thought of what it would do to my own mind flew before my eyes, but I shook it off. Food for later thoughts.

I searched around the desk, looking for any means of communication. In one of the drawers, I found a microphone. An actual microphone, one for singers or TV-hosts.

I glared over my shoulder to the corpse, who had his back turned on me. He was a real diva, I supposed.

I blew air into the mic, and immediately the noise of a windy storm echoed through the building. Abby suddenly straightened her back, and looked directly into the camera. She had a wound on her cheek.

"Abby?" I said into the microphone. She stood up, slowly stepping towards the camera. The wound on her face made me angry.

"Is that you?" was all I could decipher from her moving mouth. I couldn't really hear the rest she was saying. Her voice sounded from far away and very filtered, as if someone covered her face with a pillow.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, another voice sounded. It was a guy's voice, a young voice. I guessed a few years younger than me.

I looked around the screens, and noticed at the upper right a screen which displayed a teenage guy waving towards the camera.

"Who are you?" the guy asked. I wasn't really interested in what he had to say. I didn't know this person, so I wouldn't save him if I didn't have to. I came here for Abby.

"Are you Abby's brother?"

I turned back to the screen, and narrowed my eyes. This guy knew Abby.

"Who're you?" I asked. I saw Abby frown into the camera and wave her arms around telling me she was my sister. It took her some time to realize I wasn't talking to her.

"My name's Max" the kid answered. "I'm a friend of Abby's. Is she….is she still alive?"

Despite the situation, I grinned at the waving arms of my sister. "Yeah, she's alive. Max is alive as well, Abby."

My sister's eyes widened, and she placed a hand over her mouth. She seemed to really care about this Max-person, which made me wonder what their relationship actually was. Something I should ask once we were outta here.

"Is she in the basement?" Max suddenly asked, and he sounded very concerned. I figured he might now something about the bomb there.

"Yes, right underneath the bomb" I replied. Max scratched the back of his neck, and I heard him mumble a few curse words.

"Where is the psycho?" he then asked. I glanced behind me, where the corpse still lay.

"Very dead" I said. Max nodded, and didn't seem shocked at all that I'd killed this bastard. Abby, on the other hand, started to shout against the camera, but I could only hear fragments of what she was saying.

"You….mom….kill….er….what…"

"Keith, listen" Max continued. "You can't tell Abby anything of what I'm about to say. She's can hear everything you're saying, so please just keep it to yourself for now."

I felt this had something to do with the bomb. This Max cared about Abby as well, which was why he asked me not to say anything about the bomb. Because Abby would panic.

"I'm gonna get you outta there, Abs" I said into the microphone. She nodded at the camera. 'Good luck' her lips mimicked.

"You know about the bomb, right? He activated it?" Max continued. This idiot. How was I supposed to answer that? If I kept saying 'yes' and 'no', Abby would suspect we were talking about something not meant for her ears.

"Ok. Well, this psycho that kept us here has been forcing us to do these kind of 'games'. Aiden has completed all of them, but we have no idea where he is now. Before he got taken away, he told us about the final course, which is the one with the bomb. You start from the highest room in the factory and work your way down to the basement. You have one hour to do this, otherwise the bomb will explode. But there's a catch; every time you open a door, you lose one minute. There are more than a hundred doors between the starting point and the basement, which means you have to evade as many as possible, which also takes time to do.

Since you're able to speak with us I'm guessing you're in one of the observation rooms right now. I don't know how long you've been in here, but if you're still close to the entrance you're already halfway through the trial. Count the doors when you go through them.

I'll try to break out myself and look for the others. I think it's best if we try to meet up on the courtyard, where Aiden is."

This guy was smarter than he looked. He'd been keeping track of everything Hugo did and gathered as much info as possible with the means of planning an escape. I might actually started to like this guy. I decided that if I ever met him in person I'd let him know he's got permission to hang out with my sister.

"So…I guess I'll meet you outside?" he continued. I didn't want to speak into the microphone again, so instead I just poked it with my finger. He nodded, as if he understood.

I turned off the mic and placed it back in the drawer, as if for someone else to use. I thought of bringing it with me and using it like a walkie-talkie, but figured the signal wouldn't be great. Even from the control room I couldn't reach the basement. Max was the only who was in a room with a camera that could hear me. He spoke of others, and I wondered who those would be.

Maybe Caesar? And what about my mother? Was she here too?

Perhaps Abby made more friends, and Max was planning on saving them as well.

Standing up from the chair I sighed. This was getting a bit too complicated. I didn't come here to lead a high school theatre club.

Max didn't say anything about a map being anywhere. I think the goal of the game was to just keep going down and evade as many doors as possible.

I suddenly froze. How much time did I have left?

A lot of things happened between Hugo activating the bomb and me talking to Max. Shit, shit , shit. There was no way of telling.

"Dang it!" I mumbled.

I turned around, and wanted to walk out the door, but got blocked in my path. Before me stood Hugo, his eyes widened, yet dead.

"What the-?!"


	20. Chapter 20: Door Trials

**Hello, it's me.**

 **Yes, me is back. Been a while, I know. Just haven't been feeling great, but I'm hoping to get back on track soon!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 20: Door Trials_

 _Keith_

I had no idea how much time had passed already. That bastard took a lot more time to die. Twice.

I gambled my chances and kept counting down from thirty minutes. Since I was apparently halfway through the building already, the game should be fair. For as far as that was possible.

29 minutes and 24 seconds on the clock. The first door came into view. Since it was a one way grip I had to take this one, otherwise I'd be ending up back in the control room again.

Next, there was a long hallway _,_ with at the end three doors. How funny.

With 25 minutes, I chose the middle. But I couldn't set even one step into that room as there was none. Just an endless pit, with at the end walkers growling for my flesh.

"Shit" I mumbled, turning back. Left then. Again, an endless hall appeared with only one door to go through.

A staircase appeared, going down. I sprinted off, hoping this would get me closer to Abby somehow.

Three doors already. 18 minutes left.

The staircase ended abruptly. There was only a gap, about three feet wide. At the other side the staircase continued.

"Fuckin' hell" I whispered, stepping back. I had to jump to the other side. Which would totally work because I wasn't afraid of heights at all.

My first attempt failed miserably. Right before my feet would reach the end of the catwalk, I halted. My feet slipped over the ground, my toes barely reaching the end.

I was simply too scared.

"Dang it, man!" I shouted. My voice echoed through the dead factory like the cry of a dead man. Out of frustration, I slapped myself in the face multiple times. My cheeks started burning after slap number I-don't-fucking-know. Abby was waiting, and I was here shitting my pants.

15 minutes. I couldn't chicken out now.

Second attempt. I took a deep breath, as if the dirty factory smell could somehow work as a steroid for my courage. The only one to cheer me on was me. And I wasn't ashamed to do that.

I started clapping my hands like I was some athletic hero, screamed my own name as my own biggest fan.

"C'mon, Keith!" I mumbled. "Get your head out of your ass!"

I breathed out again, almost coughing because of the bad smell. No time. Had to run. So I did.

I don't remember jumping to the other side. Just a few seconds of floating in the air like a pathetic insect. I barely made it, and if it wasn't for the railing at the other side where I could grab on to, I would've fallen. I didn't even have time to praise myself as the next challenge appeared before me.

The staircase went up. The basement was down.

"You gotta be kidding me" I grumbled. All this for nothing.

I became my own biggest fan for this bullshit. Great. Just great.

No choice, 11 minutes on the clock. Or something. I think by that time, I'd lost count. Which was even scarier.

I ran up, wheezing my lungs out as I seemed more out of shape than I anticipated. At the top, how ironic, was again a gap. But there was no other side.

Only a rope hung there, long enough to reach the ground. I don't know how many storages this factory had, as there was only darkness down there. As if I was descending into the depths of hell.

9 minutes. I grabbed the rope with both hands and wrapped my legs around it. Inch by inch I started crouching down.

The lower I got, the darker my surroundings became. There was no sound but my own breathing, and the shrieking of the rope as it moved about.

My arms were actually burning. I knew I couldn't hold on much longer. With no clue on how much further down this journey would be I didn't jump off just yet. If I did and I'd break my neck, none of the people would ever leave this place.

But it seemed something called 'fate' had already decided for me. Before I could realize what was happening, my arms started sliding alongside the rope. My legs cramped up, but I couldn't stop it.

But still, I couldn't let go. Although I slid at a massive speed, letting go would be even faster.

The pain was nothing I'd ever experienced before. It's like placing your fingers on a hot plate of iron. You can't pull them off as your skin has already melted like a candle of flesh.

In a reflex I bit my tongue, and the gross taste of blood filled my mouth. I felt it drip down my chin as I screamed.

And then it was gone. The end of the rope was there, but no ground to land on. It felt as if I hovered in the air, like a feather blown to freedom by the face of death. It made me poetic as fuck.

I could hear the thud which informed me that I had hit the ground. Next there was nothing. Even my breathing seemed to go farther and farther away.

There was a light. A blinding light. Was this the stuff people always talked about? The light at the end of the tunnel?

Some people claim the light calls for them. I'd either gone deaf or the light was making me wait.

Then I realized I could open my eyes. There was no tunnel or anything. Just a spot pointed at my face. It died out after a few seconds, leaving me in the dark.

Almost as if it knew I'd made a decision

I lay on something soft. Again hidden in darkness, I tried searching with my fingers. It definitely didn't do any good to my back and I started worrying I might not be able to walk. Well, even if that was the case, I'd still do it. Abby was close, I felt it.

Still, whatever it was made off, it was better than landing on the cold hard ground.

My fingers suddenly wrapped around something, and in the dark I frowned. It felt like human skin.

It made me sit up immediately, an arrow of pain crossing my spine. The spot which shone on me earlier flipped on. It was apparently motion sensing, which is a real anti-climax.

I took this opportunity to glance around on whatever it was. As I did my stomach started turning around and the little amounts of food I'd eaten in the past week almost left my body.

There was a bed made of human arms. There was no blood or anything, just arms, carefully piled up as a horrific landing cushion.

I closed my eyes and tried to stand up without touching the limbs too much. The light switched off, and I waved my arm around to flip it on again. Trembling and stumbling I made my way back to the normal floor, trying to erase the horrible image.

Before me emerged a hall, which looked a lot like some kind of prison. There was a long row of doors, and a slight relief grew. I thought I'd made it.

"A…." I said, before clearing my throat. I sounded like an elder lady with shredded vocal cords. "Abby!"

As soon as I called out her name, several fists started bumping on three different doors. Walkers. Great.

Three of these rooms were filled with walkers and I had to find out which still held people. How much time left? No idea.

"Abby! Abigail!" I shouted again, running from door to door, putting my ear up against the locks. I hoped to somehow hear a human voice, telling me which way to go, or to just say something.

Finally, someone responded. The fifth door shouted my name in a questioning way. "Keith? Is that you?"

I recognized the voice of Max from the control room. He was down here too.

"Yeah, right here. Where is she?"

"Next block. Hurry up, you got about two minutes left."

Two? That should be enough. Or so I hoped.

I ran through the hallway, where there was a door.

"Fuck no" I mumbled. Going through this door meant I'd have only one minute left.

"Just go already!" Max insisted. There went my extra time.

Running/lumping I made it to the next block. Again, several doors.

"Keith! In here!" a voice shouted. Second door on my left. I didn't know how fast I made my way over there, but it was the fastest few feet of my life.

"Abs! How do I open this door?" I panted. The lock seemed complicated and of course she couldn't break out from the inside. There were no windows in the door, so I couldn't yet see her face.

"Find something to break it with, like, a rock or something" she answered, and she somehow sounded so calm and mature. Was this the same girl crying over the reboot of a cartoon series?

"Gimme a second" I mumbled, at which she answered with a sigh: "We don't have one."

I was afraid to walk away from the door, so instead of doing as she said, I started kicking my boot at the doorknob. The loud clangs alarmed several walkers in the other rooms. Slowly but surely, cracks started appearing in the door.

"Step back!" I said, maybe a little too late. Finally, a satisfying crack sounded, and the door fell back. Abby stood there, her hair all messy, underfed and scratches and bruises all over her face and arms. Even through all that, she smiled.

But I entered the room furiously. When I did, a click sounded. I halted abruptly.

"What is…" I started, but then a music started playing. After the first few tunes, I recognized some kind of orchestral version of 'We Are The Champions'. I was glad I killed that guy. Twice.

Abby jumped and wrapped her arms around my neck. "You did it."

I felt more rage as I held her slim body. This should never have happened. Until the day I died, I'd never forgive myself for what happened to her. She never even told me what happened, and I don't know if I wanted her to.

In my arms, I felt how she suddenly froze. She let go of me, her eyes big of shock. Slowly, she raised her hand. Blood splatters painted her palm and thin fingers.

She looked me in the eyes, tears filling up. "You're bit…?"

I lay a hand over the bite mark in my neck. I thought I'd stop bleeding already. Apparently not. Throughout this whole stupid trial down I hadn't even felt the pain once. I was too occupied at the moment.

All I could do was grin miserably. "I know."


	21. Chapter 21: Daisy

**Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

 **Couple of busy weeks, that's all I'm going to say. I'm trying to get back to the weekly uploads. K bye.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of TWD)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 21: Daisy_

Her name was Daisy. The first time I ever saw her was during a soccer game at school. She was there playing as the only girl among the boys. And she was kicking ass. Probably the most promising player in the entire region.

She was in the factory. I'd seen her briefly, chained together with some other walkers. She wore the same clothes she wore at the last day of school. She died in those clothes.

When we escaped, I wanted to go back for her. Do her a last and final favour. She deserved it, for being the most beautiful and boyish girl I'd ever known. But there was no time. And I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

But at the time we were running through the main hall towards the exit, with walkers around every corner and only grasping a few inches from our skins, I had no idea things would get even worse. At the end of the day, we'd lose another one of our little group.

* * *

I'd probably known it already when Keith and Abby cracked open my cell. Keith, whom I'd only heard from, looked a lot cooler than I imagined. He thanked me, for taking care of Abby for so long. And without saying, he asked if I could do that for a while longer.

Because he was bit.

"Let's go" he murmured, eying me. "You said there were more in here?"

I nodded, glancing sideways at Abby, who stared into the floor. "Yeah. Tyler's next door, and there were two others from Aiden's group in the other block."

"That's all of them?"

Abby caught me staring, and I quickly focused on Keith again. "For as far as I know."

"Good" Keith said, stepping outside the cell. "Because we don't have any time to waste."

He already went over to the next door, but I hesitated. Abby seemed to remain in shock, which I could understand. Keith was the last remaining of her family. I think he knew about his mom just by seeing Abby's face.

I halted at the doorstep, trying to catch her eyes, but she tried her hardest to avoid me.

For as long as I'd known her, I'd felt awkward around Abby. She seemed so strong and always seemed to know what she was doing or what was coming. Seeing her in this state made it feel as if all her strong assets were forced onto me. But I couldn't carry them. I needed her to do that. There was no balance without her.

So I decided for the direct contact and grabbed her hand. She finally looked up. "Max…"

I forced myself a little smile. "Come on. Let's get going."

She blinked, and finally there was some light in her. I felt a wave of relief hitting the shores, which got quickly replaced by an uncomfortable feeling as we were still holding hands.

Of course, she didn't seem bothered by it, because she was too careless to be bothered. But I was.

As long as she wasn't ready to let go, I wouldn't either. So There we were, walking hand in hand, over to her legal guardian bashing open a cell door.

"Get back!" Keith shouted, as he gave that poor door its final blow. It flew back, hitting the wall at the other end. Tyler emerged from the rising dust, his forehead covered in blood. For some reason, he seemed really calm. He even strolled over to Keith and shook hands.

"Thanks, bro. Tyler."

"Keith. You wounded?"

Tyler shrugged. "Meh, as long as I can get outta here, I can stand."

A grin appeared on Keith's face, which was covered in sweat. When I looked closer, I could see his eyes were surrounded by dark circles. It was clear the fever had already started taking its toll. And I knew Abby saw it too. And Keith saw her looking.

"Next door" he said, his grin disappearing. He quickly moved his face away from his sister. Abby squeezed my hand.

"This one?" Keith asked, his back still turned on us as he pointed at a door. I nodded. He started bumping on it with his fists, and I could see it was tiring. "Hey, anyone in there?"

I looked at Abby, and I knew I couldn't let go just yet. Luckily, Tyler stepped in. I then realized he hadn't mentioned the bite wound in Keith's neck. It was almost impossible not to notice. But then again; what good is it to remind a wounded person that they are wounded?

The two guys were able to crack open the door. Keith immediately stepped back, leaning against the wall. As he was panting his entire body trembled. He was really at the end of his rope.

"Hello?" Tyler said, as he stepped inside the cellblock. I saw two shadows emerging from the ground, as if they had sat there stacked away. First there was a bigger shadow, which I assumed was a grown man. Behind him moved a slimmer shadow, almost similar to Abby. When they stepped out of the dust, I felt cold.

Abby had let go of my hand, and I could hear her gasp as she too came to the realization of who this man was.

"Menthis…" she mumbled, her voice almost a whisper. Keith seemed alarmed by his sister saying that name. He quickly straightened his back, and with more power than he possessed at the moment he jumped onto Menthis. He grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him out of the cell. With a groan he threw the man on the ground. Menthis did not attempt to fight back in any way.

He only desperately tried to protect his face with his hands as Keith was kicking him.

"You. Piece. Of. Fucking. Shit!" With every kick that landed on Menthis, Keith spoke a word. Tyler didn't attempt to pull him back. No, all he did was cross his arms and watch.

The slimmer shadow, who was still inside the cell, came rushing out. It was actually a girl, a little younger than ourselves. As soon as she saw what was going on, she started crying. She was rather thin and didn't seem very strong, so the attempts to stop Keith were hopeless.

"No, please, stop! Please, why are you doing this? Stop it, please!"

Menthis still didn't fight back. Keith's breathing got heavier. From the corner of my eye, I saw Abby kneeling down. She slid one hand in her boot. Wouldn't be a surprise if she'd hidden a knife in there.

I just stood there, as always. The people around me were the responsible, reasonable, rational ones. I was the calm one who didn't really know what was going on, but didn't panic either. A thing I always liked to do in a situation like this is to number and list the problems to get a clearer view. Or at least, I get that.

So, here we go:

1\. Keith is bit.

Keith was in the military and was probably our best shot at survival. Together with Tyler, he seemed unstoppable. But with the mark of death in his neck, not only him, but us too would be doomed. Or…just…sort of.

2\. Menthis, the guy who took over our safe haven and turned kids into soldiers AND killed and kidnapped most of the military, was in this factory with us.

The weird thing was that he didn't fight back. He seemed more like…well, me, I guess. Something was off. And also; how the hell did he get there?

3\. This girl.

Who was she? And why was she defending a monster like Menthis? I didn't remember seeing her in the camp or anything. She must've come from someplace else.

4\. Abby 's mental state.

Abby had her knife already in her hands, with the intent to kill Menthis with it. She was clearly not thinking it through.

5\. We still weren't out of the factory, which was the originally the plan.

We had no idea how to get out, without stumbling upon a room full walkers.

"OK" I said out loud, and Abby frowned at me. "Alright. That's enough, I think."

I carefully stepped over to Keith, who was panting his lungs out. The girl kept sobbing, kneeling down next to Menthis as I pulled Keith away. I didn't need to use force at all, he was too weak to resist.

Menthis looked like shit. He coughed blood, his face was swollen and his eyes shut. The girl softly placed his head in her lap, wiping the blood out of his eyes.

I helped Keith sit down against the wall, glancing at Abby before turning my back on her. "Well, did that satisfy you?"

Keith spat on the ground. "Shut up."

I stood up. "Works for me."

"You" Menthis spat, raising his bloody arm. "Max, right?"

I felt Abby's eyes on me, and I knew she didn't like me to answer. But then again; she's not my mom.

"Yeah. What do you want?"

Menthis cleared his throat, and eyed the crying girl for a second. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here. Correct?"

Tyler frowned, and I could see he'd like to smash the guy's head in just as much.

"To a certain extent, yes" I replied. I felt all eyes on me, which made me seriously anxious. "And there's more I'd like to know about you… 'Menthis'."

The guy swallowed, as if his throat was thick as well. This time, he didn't look at the girl. "Ask away. I'll answer as close to the truth as I can."


	22. Chapter 22: Orchid

**Hey, another weekly upload. How nice.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 22: Orchid_

After three months of watching her play, I finally dared to ask Daisy out. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life, but I did it anyway. It was literally after Math class. I stood there, with a rose. The first plan was to sit on one knee and ask her, but luckily I changed my mind. The question itself was more like a whisper, barely something a normal person can hear. But it happened, and a week later we went mini golfing. She won, of course.

* * *

"So you were just an imposter?" Tyler concluded. Menthis, or 'James', nodded. The girl who'd been holding him, Bree, had slowly moved away from him while he was talking. She seemed confused and scared. Most of all confused.

I would be too if the person I trusted turned out to be the most arrogant liar in the world. This 'James' – person slid into an alter ego, pretending to be the leader of a group rebels, or whatever they were. But in reality, he was just a sad man who wished to be somebody else. So he became somebody else.

It felt like a sick joke. Some 'Wizard of Oz'- joke. A terrible one. Who the hell did he think he was? Playing with us like that?

Especially me and Abby. We followed that bastard into battle. Well, not actual battle, but he made us fight walkers, and each other. Making us believe we would lead the world into a new era or something.

From what I understood, it was like this; James was a medical scientist with a love for theatre. He knew most of what was going on, which was the main reason he was still alive. This gang that invaded the military camp had a leader, but they didn't dare to let him step into the light. They were looking for a person to 'play' this role until they'd conquered a safe place for the gang to stay. They found James and interrogated him. He told them everything about this virus and after, they wanted to kill him. But the leader interfered, for some unexplainable reason. They had, and I quote, a 'private chat', which resulted into James taking over the part of the leader in the spotlight. But underneath, he was nothing more than a poor soul trying to forget. And I had the least of sympathy for him.

According to James, the virus spread through the air. There was nothing we could do to prevent ourselves from getting infected. The person to actually prove this fact, was the one I least expected it to come from.

Keith had killed the Lunatic, who's real/fake/not-sure name was 'Harold'.

"I was certain I'd killed him" he said. "He wasn't breathing, I assure you. I saw the light dy-"

"We get it" Abby interrupted. "No need for dramatization."

"So this Harold is the one who bit you?" Tyler asked, at which Keith had nodded.

So we were basically screwed all the way through. No matter how we die, we'll come back as flesh eating monsters.

I had my hands squeezed into fists and I bit on the insides of my cheeks. All I wanted was to punch his teeth in, but that wouldn't be fair to Keith, or Abby, who seemed more eager to kill him.

Tyler seemed to most serene this time around. It was either because Menthis didn't really do anything to him, or he just hadn't realized yet that Michelle's death was partially his fault. Or maybe Aiden hadn't told him about that.

"So" James continued. He sat up, leaning against the wall, the farthest away from Keith. "Now that you know the truth….what will become of me?"

"What do you mean, bastard?" Keith grunted, his head between his knees as if he could throw up any moment. "We're gonna fucking kill you, that's what'll become of your sorry ass."

"No!" Bree suddenly cried out. Keith chuckled at that.

"You can shut up as well. No one asked you for your opinion."

Bree quickly closed her mouth, seemingly insulted.

"Alright alright," Tyler started, stepping between the two, "how about we think about this for a sec. We'll go over there, have a little chat, and decide what to do. Sounds fair?"

He pointed at the other side of the cellblock, the farthest away from the two.

I shrugged. I didn't really know how to act anyways. Tyler seemed, very calm with the dilemma, and I hoped he could help me keep the atmosphere less loaded. Abby and Keith were straight murder machines ready for someone to push the start button. It was like standing between two hungry lions.

As said, Keith, Abby, Tyler and me created some distance.

"There's no need for this" Keith immediately started as soon as we were out of hearing range. "My suggestion; kill him and get outta here."

"I agree" Abby mumbled, crossing her arms. She glanced at me, expecting I'd say something similar. I just shrugged again.

"Seems like voting isn't gonna help a thing."

Keith frowned at me. "Why not? Don't tell me you want to help this bastard? And besides; you don't know his opinion." He pointed at Tyler. It was pretty obvious where his intentions lay.

"He's not wrong, you know" Tyler said. "I mean, if you really hate him that much…death wouldn't be such a satisfaction now, would it?"

Keith stared at the man, whom he seemed to be on the same wavelength with. Slowly but surely a grin appeared around his mouth. "You're crueller than I thought. What do you suggest? Leave him here to rot, with the doors locked?"  
Tyler grinned as well. "I dunno. Where do you think is the worst place to be right now? In here, or out there?"

"In here" I answered, before Keith could, even though the question wasn't meant for me at all. I didn't want to kill Menthis, but I didn't want to have him around either. Killing him here wouldn't be satisfying. Throwing him in the hands of the monsters might.

Tyler nodded. "Agreed. So I suggest we leave him here."

"What about the girl?" Abby suddenly interrupted. Bree still sat in the corner, her knees pulled up. James didn't attempt to talk to her, but instead sat with his back turned towards her. "She has done nothing wrong. Are we supposed to leave her like this?"

We all suddenly stared at the girl, and I felt some guilt building up in my stomach. For some reason, James was important to her. Or maybe she'd changed her mind after hearing the entire story. If we took her with us by force, she'd might attempt something to avenge him. She seemed fragile, not that athletic or agile, like Abby or me. It was an unlike possibility, but still a possibility.

"How about we ask her ourselves?" I suddenly said, literally thinking out loud. All faces turned to me. Abby agreed, Keith rolled his eyes and Tyler seemed to think about it.

"Not a bad idea, actually" he commented.

Abby nodded. Only Keith seemed to have trouble with it.

"Jeez" Abby said when she saw his struggle. "Spit it out already!"

Keith sighed. "Look, don't get me wrong, I'm all about saving people and shit. But this is taking too much time. I've seen the amount of walkers in here, and if we don't hurry the exit will be blocked. So I don't want to dwell on about this, but seriously; what is this girl to us? We don't even know her. Sure, she can come with, but I won't go out of my way to help her if she gets into trouble."

Tyler nodded. "So you agree?"

"Yes" he grumbled. Tyler walked over to Bree and kneeled down. I watched as the girl's eyes widened, and I could almost hear her think.

"Max?" Abby called. I looked away from the girl, who started crying again.

"What?"

Abby poked me on my arm. "You're cool."

I frowned, with a mixture of a blush. "Say what now?"

Abby shrugged, but she didn't look straight at me, as if she was somehow shy. "Just cool. The way you handled this situation. Didn't see that ever coming from you."

Great. This was great. She thought I was some dumb loser, which I actually was if I may say so myself. And she kind of started to like me…? Which means before she'd said this, she thought of me as something lower than a loser.

Like I said; great.

"Uh, thanks?"

Abby lifted her head, finally looking straight at me. "You're welcome."

With that, she walked over to Keith, who had trouble getting back on his feet. His condition was really worsening. All that big talk about saving the day would probably stay big talk, and nothing more.

Tyler came back, as Bree seemed to have made a decision. Seeing Tyler's face, I knew the thing I expected had happened. "She's staying."

"Great" Keith responded. He seemed the only one actually happy about this. But I felt guilty.

That girl was around my age, and I was just gonna leave her behind like that.

No. Wait, it wasn't like that. We gave her a choice. This was her decision.

"Guess we'll just get going?" I said, to break the awkward silence Keith had brought upon us. Tyler nodded. In silence, we walked past the two strangers. There was no need to say goodbye or anything, although I did look over my shoulder before I left the cellblock.

Bree looked at me, with begging eyes. As if I could do something. But I already had someone I needed to protect for someone else.

So I just awkwardly nodded and walked away. I didn't feel like throwing shades at James, or Menthis, any longer. He could rot in hell for all I cared. Or even worse; in the rotting arms of rotten people.


	23. Chapter 23: Rose

**Sorry, I forgot to upload yesterday because I was tired from work. I slept like thirteen hours so I'm good to go.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 23: Rose_

Daisy became my girlfriend after one month. She was the one who asked. We stood outside the cafeteria, she'd just came back from the dressing room. I immediately said yes, and after that I was her number one supporter at everything, not just sports.

"We need weapons" Abby said as soon as the door shut behind us. And she was right. We had nothing on us. Keith had a stick. That was it.

We stood in a long hall, with at the end a door. Behind that one would be two other doors, each leading to a different part of the factory. This guy really liked doors.

"I don't see an armoury around here" Tyler mumbled, which I suspected was sarcastic. "Maybe a canteen with a kitchen? We can get far with just a knife."

Keith nodded, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "Agreed. Any ideas? You guys have been here longer than I have."

Abby chuckled. "As if we could see anything when blindfolded. That bastard never showed us anything."

She was right. Whenever we had to go somewhere in this place, he'd put a sack over our heads. Whenever we got food, which was like twice every other day if he hadn't forgotten, it was always canned. Maybe there wasn't even a kitchen in here.

"Unlikely" Tyler said, reading my mind apparently. "Let's just…., I don't know."

I felt Abby's eyes locking in on me, as if she expected me to take over again. And here I thought I was done saving the day. Damn, I hated being the hero. I never should've bought that Martian Manhunter shirt. It gives the girls the wrong ideas.

"How about we split up?" I heard myself say, and immediately wished I could take it back because that was the most ridiculous idea ever.

Well, that's what I thought. To my surprise, I saw all heads nodding. Seriously, guys? Are we that far gone?

"I guess we have no choice" Tyler said. "With that idiot gone, there's no danger of machines suddenly turning on. And he wouldn't let walkers wander around whenever he wasn't here."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" Keith mumbled. Bless you, man. Someone who hasn't lost his mind. "On my way down here, I came across a couple ugly bastards. I say we make teams, so if you happen to come across a herd you know someone has your back. Max," and then he looked at me. He had the same look in his eyes as the time he silently thanked me for protecting his sister. This would be the moment I'd have to do that again "you and Abby head East at the first crossroad we come across. Make a circle to the North. If you find the exit sooner than weapons, just get out and meet up with Aiden. Just wait till we get out."

I nodded, but before I could even say anything, Abby started rampaging. "No way. Nu-uh. Not gonna happen."

Keith sighed. It was clear he didn't have the energy to debate about this. I knew Abby saw it too, but that seemed to only motivate her to continue to change his mind. "Abby, come on. It won't take long. Just…do what I say."

"I'm not going anywhere without you" she stated. At the end of that sentence, her voice broke a little. This could possibly be her last moment with her brother together, and she was aware of it. Secretly I was glad that she didn't involve me in this discussion. I wouldn't know what to say when she would ask me for my opinion. Telling her I would drag her away from her brother wouldn't be the thing a friend would do. A good friend would. But I don't think I'd reached that level just yet.

Tyler decided to get between the siblings. He lay a hand on Abby's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, but this might be the only way of getting all of us out of here. I will try my hardest to protect your brother with all my power. I will make sure he gets back to you. I swear it on my life."

The words sounded so dramatic, but he was sincere. He meant what he said. Still, I wouldn't buy it if I was Abby. But she did, for some reason.

I felt bad for suggesting to split up. Now she had to say goodbye to her brother, maybe forever. She hugged Keith tightly, as if she never wanted to let go.

I just shook hands with both men and gave them a nod. On the inside I was screaming for a hug as well, but I had to be strong. For Abby.

The four of us got to walk together towards the door. Tyler opened it, and as I had foretold, there were two doors. Abby and I walked over to the left one.

I lay my hand on the doorknob, and looked sideways to the two guys. Keith nodded. "See you on the other side."

I opened the door, and Abby and I ran through. The last sentence Keith said scared me.

The other side could mean two things; outside the factory, or the afterlife. I was pleading for the first one.

Abby ran behind me, although I knew she was always faster than me. She was deliberately slowing down her pace, her head bowed and her eyes hidden in her dark hair.

She just couldn't look at me.

The hall way we ran through got wider and wider, and made a turn to the left. We ran through it in silence, neither of us daring to break the silence. There was only the echo of our footsteps.

After a while, I glanced over my shoulder. She was still not looking.

Whenever we came across two different paths, we chose the most left one, because we had to head for the East. I had no idea when we were supposed to head for the North. Just keep running.

After what felt like hours, we slowed down our pace a bit, the both of us breathing loudly. My chest hurt and my legs felt sour. The entire time, the hall had stayed in the same metallic colouring, with no change in structure at all. It was almost like we were running in circles.

I felt very lonely. Abby was doing her best to make it feel like she wasn't present and it was driving me crazy. I couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed.

I couldn't take it anymore, so I gave up and broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

She didn't look up, but at least she answered. "For what?"

"It's because of me that we're split up like this."

She hesitated before answering, as if I'd said something totally different than that she was thinking. Which was kind of reassuring. "No it's not."

I frowned. "Yes it is. If I hadn't said-"

"Don't blame it on yourself" she interrupted. "It was his choice."

By 'his' I assumed she meant Keith. And she was right. As always. Keith could've said no, of course, but I still felt guilty. "But you guys should've gone together…"

"Would you kill him?"

I froze in the middle of the hallway. "What?"

Finally, she looked up. Her eyes had red circles around them, as if she'd been silently crying this whole time. "Would you kill him, if he asked you?"

All kinds of scenarios went through my mind. Keith was bit, yes. He would turn into a walker in about a day from now. He was in pain and had a high fever. But would I kill him?

"No" I said, and I was certain of it. "I wouldn't."

A sad smile appeared around Abby's lips. "Neither would I. And that's the problem. As his sister, I care about him more than anything. I wouldn't hurt him. And you….you're just don't have the power to kill anything. Even walkers are hard on you. And me being your friend doesn't help either. Killing my brother would surely cause a rift between us…"

I bowed my head. Of course, she was right again. I'd barely ever heard something coming out of her mouth which was wrong. She was on point with everything.

"He's only just met Tyler" Abby continued, "and Tyler barely knows us. Out of the three of us, he'd be more likely to finish the job."

I nodded silently, as it was the only thing I could do. It was all very clear. It might've been a sick theory, but a likely one. Keith had it all thought out. And here I was, thinking he was just believing in me to protect his sister.

Although that might be true as well.

"C'mon" I said. "All this thinking is driving me nuts. I need to take a sprint."

Abby nodded in agreement. "Me too."

And so we kept running next to one another, both of us stuck in our own thoughts. We came across another door, and when I opened it, the surroundings finally changed. It lead to a balcony, which looked over nothing other than the workplace. Also known as the 'Torture Room.'

All kinds of horrible images from things that had happened here flashed before my eyes. People who'd died here in the most horrible ways possible.

All the machines with the screws, saws and speers were standing in a formation, stuck in a terrifying dance full of death and blood. All across the space lay different body parts and pools of blood, dried and liquid.

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling my insides turn around. This was the stuff that kept me from sleeping peacefully.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Abby. "Let's go down. There might be some stuff we can use."

I nodded, and as we walked down the stairs I kept my head bowed down, afraid of what I might see. This place was a nightmare I just couldn't wake up from.

"You take this side" Abby said. I just nodded, having no idea which direction she was pointing at. I was just happy she took over the role of leader for this round. I had enough of it.

Slowly but surely, I dared to look up. The first torture machine was right next to me. It was a maze of saws and tiny knifes which could unpredictably jump up any time when turned on. It looked even scarier when it wasn't moving. Almost like the gaping mouth of a lion, or an even scarier animal. Like a shark or something. Sharks are scary.

Between the knifes there were still pieces of human flesh stuck between. Tiny bits of fingers, limbs, or a face. I had to look away every now and then as I started to remove one knife after another. I decided I only needed four knifes and one saw, otherwise I wouldn't be able to carry myself with me. One knife for each limb and a saw for whatever big would come my way.

As I moved my arm between the knifes I felt like it could start moving anytime. If that happened I would die. The tip of my index finger to the right half of my face would be gone.

I moved quickly, loosening one screw after another. My fingers hurt and I got several cuts on my arm but at least I had weapons.

I strapped two knifes to my belt and the saw at the back. The two remaining knifes were put in my shoes. Just in case.

I sighed, and felt a little proud of myself. I'd done it.

I stepped away from the machines, looking around for Abby. I almost started humming a song, when I noticed I couldn't find Abby. Whenever I called her name, she wouldn't answer.

"Abby? Abigail?"

Nothing.

Suddenly, a shrieking sound trembled through the speakers located in the corners of the space. A high voice whispered through it.

"She's over there."

Behind me, a machine with a giant hook started moving. At the end, Abby hung upside down, unconscious. The hook moved upwards and hung Abby above a pool full of screws and tiny knifes.

"You better hurry" Bree said.


	24. Chapter 24: Lily

**Ah, another season of my favourite show has ended. Now the wait begins for the Comic Con trailer for season 7 in June...**

 **Yes, that is how much I love this show.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 24: Lily  
_

Daisy often said she was happy to have me. She never complained about anything, we never had a real fight or anything. After half a year, she told me she loved me. I panicked. Sure, it's easy to say 'I love you too', but it's the meaning of those words. I couldn't say it. Everything we experienced together had been so nice, I didn't want to ruin it. But in the end, I actually did. Daisy was hurt. I saw that.

Abby was still unconscious. I stood there, knifes on me and around me. Bree stared at me from behind the windows of the control room, where she pressed one button after another.

And here I thought she wouldn't be the kind of person to go for revenge. I had never been more wrong.

Abby moved closer and closer to the dancing knifes, ready to rip her to shreds. I felt panic burning up in my stomach as I tried to remember how this game worked. If I remembered it correctly, the rules were like this; underneath the floor are several holes, surrounding the right path towards the machine. I had to find the path without falling into one of the holes, which aren't visible when the grey overlay is still on top. Every time you misstep, the knifes move closer to the one hanging above. It's almost the same principle as the bomb game. Every time you open a door, you lose time.

I breathed in and out, trying to remember the pattern I saw Aiden take once when he had to save Abby. For some reason, that Lunatic guy always chose the girls to get saved and the guys to be the saviours.

Bree seemed to follow in his footsteps.

"Well?" she said through the mic. "What are you waiting for?"

I shook my head, clearing my mind. Right when I was about to take the first step, a door above me opened. Tyler and Keith came running onto the balcony, both covered in blood. They pushed the door behind them shut as walkers came bashing in. When they succeeded in drawing them back, they finally realized what was going on.

"Shit" Tyler mumbled, pointing at Abby. Keith's eyes widened for a second, then he started running. Tyler tried to stop him, but Keith had already made it to the floor. I too tried to stop him, but he kept running. He ran past me, onto the floor full of traps. Right before my eyes, he stepped onto one of the loose spots. The floor collapsed under his feet, and before I could even take a step to help him, he'd disappeared. He didn't even have the time to grab on to the edge. He just fell through the floor into a deep darkness.

I stared at the spot. "Oh….shit. Shit. Shit."

"Max" Tyler shouted from atop the balcony. He too was pale as a sheet, but seemed to push away his thoughts. "Get Abby, we need to get out of here!"

I stared back at the hole in the ground. "But….Keith. We need to save Keith!"

Tyler bit his lip. His hands folded around the rail of the balcony, his knuckles turning white by the power of his grip. "I'm sorry, but we can't. By the time we get to him, he might've already…"

"…turned" I whispered. I felt so cold all of the sudden. Abby was still unconscious, unaware of the fact that we would leave her brother behind. I silently remembered her words.

" _Would you kill him, if he asked you to?"_

"Shit" I mumbled. I took a first step towards Abby. The knifes had already started moving. I swiftly glanced over at the control room. Bree had disappeared, which wasn't a good thing. Who know where she might be hiding now.

Next to my left foot, a pallet fell down, revealing the dark hole underneath it. The machine shrieked as the knifes moved closer to Abby's face. I could see Tyler's eyes fixated on me. Then, all of the sudden, he stomped the rail and ran down the stairs. I panicked and froze, my right foot mid-air.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted, as Tyler ran over the floor behind me. He headed for a different machine, but it was still dangerous.

"Maybe I can stop the machine somehow" he shouted back. He basically dove into a labyrinth full of knives, threads and other creepy stuff.

I took another step, hoping I wouldn't kill one of my best friends. This one was a good one. I didn't feel joy, because the danger wasn't over.

Another step. The knifes moved up a bit, almost scratching Abby's dark hair. I cursed and looked at my feet. There was no way of telling when I would kill Abby by taking a step. The floor seemed so normal. I couldn't do this.

Even Keith couldn't. How was I supposed to do it? I was just Max, not a soldier.

"Damnit!" I said, as another hole appeared. The knives were now cutting her braid. Her long dark braid was no more, and in my head I already apologized for that. I liked her hair the way it was.

Just three more steps. Just three more.

I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn't find Tyler anywhere. Whatever he was doing; it didn't help.

Another step. Goosebumps danced up my skin as I heard a loud crack. I saw several ripples in the stone underneath my feet, and looked up. I heard the floor falling down and waited for the knives to slash Abby's face.

It was over. She was done for. I had killed her. It was because of me. I killed her and her brother. I killed her entire family.

"No!" I shouted, as if that would help her. I closed my eyes, again backing away from anything horrible happening. I waited for her blood to splatter in my face. To hear her skull being crushed and squashed.

Warm tears rolled down my face as I waited for my friend to die. I stood there for what felt like hours. I just couldn't look up. I was too afraid.

My fault. My fault.

The knives slowly stopped moving. So the game was over. And I had lost.

I'd lost her.

I turned my back on the machine. I wasn't able to face this horrible thing I'd done. She didn't deserve to die like this.

"Max!" Tyler's voice pierced through my mind. I felt a hand on my shoulder, but by that time my ears were numb. I suddenly felt really, really tired. I just wanted to go to sleep and hopefully wake up in a world where all of this didn't exist.

"Max, get your shit together!" Tyler spat in my face. Peeking through my eyelashes I looked up. I frowned.

"What's that smile for?"

He chuckled for some reason, and I thought he'd gone mad as well. He grabbed both my shoulders and turned me around. I didn't have the time to close my eyes. But I didn't need to.

Abby still hung there. The knives had stopped moving. Her face wasn't gone.

"What?" I mumbled. "But…how? What….when?"

Tyler patted me on the back. "I told you I could stop it."

My legs felt like pudding. The collapsed and I fell to my knees. I was so tired. And happy.

I put two hands over my face and started crying. Like actual crying. Legit sobbing and stuff. Snot all over the place. It wasn't pretty.

Abby grumbled something. She blinked and opened her eyes. She even yawned, as if she woke up from a deep sleep. She looked at the knives, scratched behind her ear, and looked at the knives again. Then her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth.

"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUU-"

"Abigail, over here!" Tyler said, and he waved, as if he was picking up a child from the day care. Abby looked at him as if he'd gone mad, just like I'd thought seconds ago.

"That's great, but get me out of here!"

Tyler ran over to the machine. The holes stopped appearing due to whatever he'd done to the game. I sat there on my knees, watching as Tyler helped Abby back on her feet.

Without any warning, I put two arms around her slim body and pressed her against me. I could feel how she froze in shock by the sudden gesture, but after a while she answered my hug.

"Wow, Max" she mumbled. "I wasn't gone that long."

I didn't respond as I felt a lump in my throat blocking the words I wanted to say. I let go of her, just waiting for her to ask for her brother. I watched how she looked around, saw the frown appearing and the fear in her eyes.

"Where's Keith?"

My mouth was too dry. I couldn't respond. I didn't know how to respond. I had no idea where he was, but I knew he was dead. There was no way he could survive after that big a fall. I didn't even hear him hit the ground. He was gone, for sure.

"He didn't make it" Tyler answered for me. Abby bit her lips, and nodded. I think she already knew the answer, but somehow hoped someone would still clear it out for her. She blinked several times, and I wished I could hold her again.

"So…uh" she started, and I heard her voice was hollow. "What do we do now?"

Tyler took a deep breath, as if he wanted to give her his condolences, but changed his mind. "If I remember it correctly, there should be a long hall close to this room. The one we walked through, remember? If we find that passage, we've found our way out."

And that is how we ended up running for our lives, with walkers behind us. With Daisy behind us. I could see the exit already, a beacon of light calling out to us. I was crying, again. And I was so, so tired.

So tired I felt my legs being grabbed. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw it was her. There was a hole in her stomach. Her eyes where a green misty shade, instead of the blue pretty ones. Her hair was dirty and bloody and dancing around her dead face.

I fell to the ground, and everything around me seemed to move in slow motion. I saw how Daisy's jaws went up and down as she growled, maybe even calling my name.

I tried to reach one of the knifes I had on me, but I was too slow. She'd thrown herself on top of me, and I let her. I couldn't do a thing.

Then time went back to its normal setting. Abby came out of nowhere and pushed a saw through Daisy's skull. Her body lost all strength and her head fell on my chest. It was almost as if she was sleeping.

"C'mon!" Abby shouted, grabbing my arm. She basically dragged me back on my feet. I stared at the lifeless body.

I really did love her.


	25. Chapter 25: Tulip

**Hi, bad news.**

 **This will be the final chapter of this story.**

 **I apologize if you really enjoyed it, but I no longer do.**

 **Thank you for reading, and enjoy for the final time! ;)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own the concept of The Walking Dead)**

 _Chapter 25: Tulip_

Daisy broke up with me after I couldn't answer her. I just didn't know how to find the words, yet they were so simple. About a week later I saw her hang out with one of my friends. They were standing next to a grocery store, my friend with his back against the wall and Daisy in front of him. She saw me looking by seeing my reflection in the windows of the store. I stood at the other side of the road. I saw her eyes harden, before she pressed her lips against my friend's. But our love story didn't end there. I couldn't let her go. When the whole outbreak began, the first house I ran to was hers. She'd already gone to the refugee camp with her family. I had no idea where mine was, so my best chance of finding all the people I cared about was at this same camp. So I went there. Instead of finding the people I held dear, I met new ones.

At the time we ran through the gates of the factory, I thought this was what Abby was thinking at that time. She'd lost her mother and her brother, the only people she had. It was even partially my fault they were gone, yet she still came to my rescue. I think we both knew that you can't survive in this world without other people around you.

And she wanted me around.

We met up with Aiden, who stood guard at the front gate.

"Close it!" Tyler shouted as we neared the light of day. Aiden started pushing the first gate, leaving an exit for us to pass through and then closed the other. The walkers already started resisting and all four of us had to push before we were safe from them. Before I got separated from Daisy.

After we succeeded locking the gates, Aiden looked around our remaining group. With his eyes, he counted our numbers, and then nodded. "So this is what's left, huh?"

Tyler nodded, coughing loudly. "Let's just…get out of here, before they bash through."

Near the entrance to the courtyard stood a white van. Aiden said it was what Keith used to pass through. Close to it stood two men, some kind of farmers. They used to work for the Lunatic.

"Joe" said the first one, holding up his hand.

"Roger" said the other, and even dared to smile. I saw Abby grinding her teeth. This wasn't the time for a friendly introduction.

"Why are you still here?" Tyler asked, and both the men dashed back a little by his aggressive posture.

Joe shrugged. "Well, you see…we kinda need the van. But, uh…." He then pointed at Aiden. "He has the keys."

Tyler glanced over his shoulder to Aiden, who showed him a key cord. He nodded. "Ok. Then it's ours."

The two men looked at each other in shock, and then back at Tyler. "Wait! Wait, just….where are you planning on going?"

Tyler glared at the two idiots, before walking over to the van. Aiden followed him, ignoring the pleading of the two men. Abby rolled her eyes, and for some reason grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the vehicle as well. We climbed up in the back of the van, while the two men ran towards the driver's side, where Aiden already sat behind the wheel.

"Anywhere but here is good enough" he mumbled to them. The two men fell silent, as Aiden started the engine. Joe suddenly grabbed Aiden by the arm, pulling himself up. His face was close to Aiden's.

Abby and me jumped out the back again. Tyler quickly ran around, ready to attack Joe from behind, but then he started talking. "I know a place. A safe one. My brother….he's an U.S. citizen. He's found this 'safe-zone' kind of thing…"

Tyler had a knife at the back of Joe's neck, while Roger stood at the side watching with widened eyes. He had Abby and me standing at both his sides, so he wouldn't do anything.

"Liar" Tyler spat. Joe shook his head.

"No! I'm serious! My brother, he lives in Georgia. Atlanta, to be exact. You see, we, Roger and me, we were preparing to go there."

Joe turned around to look at Tyler, who chuckled in disbelief. He lowered his knife and crossed his arms. "I'm listening." Joe and Roger locked eyes with one another, as if they were considering telling the truth or not. Tyler pulled out his knife again, and got a grim expression on his face. "I'm not hearing anything."

Joe nodded quickly, sweat appearing on his forehead. "Yeah, so, we, Roger and me….we prepared a boat. With supplies and everything. To cross the sea, get to the main land."

Tyler and Aiden looked at one another, and even though they barely knew each other, they seemed to think the same thing already. "A boat, you say?"

Joe nodded again. "Yes. Yes, and, well, we have some spare room. You could…come with us?"

I felt Roger next to me freeze. His friend had apparently said something really stupid. Luckily, Tyler was smart enough to know this might just be a trap.

"And why would we trust you?"

The man looked around the group, his eyes got caught on Abby, who was the tiniest among us. "Because, well, you guys know how to handle yourselves. Even the kids know how to kill a person-"

"I've never killed anyone" Abby interrupted. "Just walkers."

Joe gulped at the cold words, but I didn't disagree with Abby. The difference between people and walkers wasn't up for debate. Walkers were mindless beings, only out to eat.

But then the image of Daisy's head falling on my chest flashed before my eyes. The way it looked like she was just sleeping, like those Sundays after practice. We'd watch a movie together and she'd fall asleep. I just waited for her to wake up again, even if I had to pee. I didn't want to wake her up, or have her waking up with me not being there. Yet that was the exact thing I just did to her. She fell asleep, but would never wake up.

"Max!" Abby's voice suddenly whispered. I blinked, returning to the present. Abby pointed at my hand, which was folded around a knife. My palm was bleeding because I was squeezing so hard. In the main time, Tyler and Joe were negotiating a safe passage across the sea. They'd almost come to an agreement.

"In exchange for protection, you'll grant us a spot at your boat?" Tyler repeated. Joe nodded, now determined. The sweat had disappeared from his forehead.

Tyler and Aiden locked eyes once again, before agreeing. Joe and Tyler shook hands. We all got inside the van, Aiden behind the wheel and Joe in the passenger's seat, instructing which direction to go. Tyler kept looking from Joe to Roger, never letting go of his knife. There was also a machete strapped to his belt, which was close to his other hand. Maybe this was his way of keeping his end of the deal (protecting them), or his way of showing his trust. In this case distrust.

Roger sat next to Tyler, and Abby and me sat at the other side. There were already no walkers inside anymore, but it sure did smell like it. There were still blood splatters all around, and some bits and pieces of clothing. We ourselves didn't look that fresh either. I had no idea what day it was and since when I was wearing this shirt.

"America" Abby sighed after a while.

"Yup" I sighed back. "Never been there. You?"

She shook her head. "I doubt we'll find anything the way it used to. It's probably even worse than over here."

I shrugged. "Maybe not. If there's a safe zone, they probably found ways to protect themselves."

Abby gazed at something in front of her only she could see. With her braid gone, her hair was now a strange kind of bob line, with dark hair just dancing around her face and several differences in length. She noticed the change earlier, but didn't comment. "I sure hope so."

I leaned back against the cold sides of the van, suddenly feeling tired again. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. "As long we're like this, I think we'll be fine."

 **The End**


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